Holman heads Aussies in Holland and Germany

Brett Holman flew the flag for the Aussies in the Eredivisie while Mitch Langerak was our best in Germany.

Some of the best performing Australian players based overseas were plying their trade throughout mainland Europe this season. And those in Holland and Germany fared particularly well.

Mitch Langerak got to lift the German Cup trophy as part of a successful Borussia Dortmund team, who also won the Bundesliga for the second straight season, and although he didn-t play too many games for the German giants, when he did he performed admirably with the gloves as the back-up for long-time club stopper Roman Weidenfeller.

Langerak-s season stats were brief but admirable - four starts saw him concede four goals and make 14 saves in a solid effort, especially under the pressure of a German Cup final against huge rivals Bayern Munich.

Still in Borussia but at Monchengladbach and it wasn-t a bad year for Mathew Leckie - the talented former Adelaide United man made nine first team appearances and although he didn-t score in those, his 10 reserve team games yielded three goals as Monchengladbach took a top four finish in the Bundesliga and will get their chance to make the UEFA Champions League.

It wasn-t such good news for Nikita Rukavytsa and Hertha Berlin, for although ‘Ruka- impressed at times during the season scoring two goals from 17 starts and earned himself a recall to Holger Osieck-s squad, his team though have fallen to Bundesliga II after losing their playoff to Fortuna Dusseldorf.

Ironically that means a different Aussie will ply his trade in the Bundesliga next season, with Robbie Kruse moving up with the club.

He will have a tough push for game time though, having started just two matches in the most recent campaign with Thomas Broker and Ranosav Jovanovic in front of him.

Moving back towards England and we arrive in Holland where Brett Holman had such an outstanding season for AZ Alkmaar that he earned himself a transfer to Aston Villa and the riches of the EPL.

At Alkmaar though, Holman might just prove irreplaceable, the industrious attacking midfielder showed why he will be the leader of the next generation of Qantas Socceroos stars with a superb season, which saw the team lead the league before eventually falling behind Dutch giants Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV, ultimately claiming a Europa League position.

Holman-s 39 appearances for the season made him the most picked starting player of their season and those matches saw him find the net seven times, he is unquestionably coming into the next few Socceroos games in some of the best form of his career.

While Alkmaar flew high, Utrecht, the home of talented youngsters Adam Sarota, Tommy Oar and Michael Zullo had a mediocre year.

The club were mid table fodder but are in a phase where they have some young talent on the rise and of the three Aussies there, it looks like Tommy Oar benefitted the most from the recent season.

The speedy star managed to play 18 games (starting 10) and scoring twice. Zullo also continued to show rapid improvement in his 11 games, though his season was hampered by injury. Sarota had a lesser role to play featuring in just eight matches.

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