Van Persie not traumatised by 1-9 loss to AZ Alkmaar

Robin van Persie promised that he and his Heerenveen players would "keep playing our own game" and would not be "traumatised" after suffering a record 9-1 defeat at AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch Eredivisie last Saturday.

It was only the former Netherlands, Arsenal and Manchester United striker's fourth match as a manager after being appointed head coach of Heerenveen in May.

"This is tough," said the 41-year-old, who scored 50 goals in 102 international appearances.

"You'll encounter a number of bumps in your career. This was a very big bump. We learned a few more lessons from this match than we normally would."

Sven Mijnans opened the scoring for AZ after just four minutes but Luuk Brouwers equalised for Heerenveen midway through the first half.

Former Tottenham striker Troy Parrott, 22, soon put the home side back in front with his first goal for AZ since a £6.7m summer move from north London.

Things quickly turned sour for the visitors at the start of the second half as Republic of Ireland front man Parrott added a further three goals in just eight minutes.

Van Persie then watched his side concede a further four goals in the final 20 minutes to give AZ Alkmaar their record win in the Eredivisie, moving them up to second place in the table. — BBC