Battle of coaches begins in Eredivisie

But the stellar line-up of experience on the touchline promises to make this season's Eredivisie a fascinating battle of strategies and tactics, even if financial problems have forced clubs to part with their best players.

Advocaat, 64, is the most high-profile of the top-ranking coaches after returning to league title favourite PSV Eindhoven after taking Russia to EURO 2012, only to see it crash out at the group stage.

PSV has managed to keep its key players, like Dries Mertes, Jeremain Lens and Luciano Narsingh and has been strengthened by the return of Marco van Bommel.

Advocaat steered PSV to league success in 1997 and is hoping that its 4-2 victory against Ajax in the Supercup last week will give the side confidence going into the first match away to RKC Waalwijk.

PSV's main rival for the title will as always be Ajax, which is led for the third season by Oranje legend Frank De Boer.

He managed to oversee the Amsterdam club's back-to-back titles in 2010-11 and 2011-12 with a team regularly plundered for players.

De Boer has once again had to deal with a reworked side after having to let go the team's best player, defender Jan Vertonghen of Belgium, who has signed for English Premier League side Tottenham.

Challenging the perennial favourite will be AZ Alkmaar, former England manager Steve McClaren's FC Twente and Feyenoord, coached by Ronald Koeman, although the Rotterdamn club crashed out of the Champions League in the preliminary stages.

SC Heerenveen could also push for honours. The club, managed by Marco van Basten, came fifth last season and the former Ajax and AC Milan striker, who scored 58 times for the Netherlands, is looking to see if he can make it as a coach.

"I want to find out for sure whether the job of manager is for me," Van Basten said after his unexpected appointment, following unsuccessful spells in charge of the country's national team and Ajax.

Heerenveen does not have the same financial means as its rivals. It has also lost its leading goalscorer Bas Dost to Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg, while its pre-season results have been disappointing.