Editing AZ Alkmaar (section)

===2009–2014: Advocaat–Verbeek years ===
For the 2009–10 season, [[Ronald Koeman]] succeeded Louis van Gaal, who had departed to manage [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern Munich]] after leading AZ to the championship. Koeman was officially hired on 17 May 2009, but on 5 December, AZ announced he was no longer in charge of the club after losing 7 of his first 16 matches. Former [[Rangers F.C.|Rangers]] and [[FC Zenit Saint Petersburg|Zenit Saint Petersburg]] manager [[Dick Advocaat]] took over for the remainder of the season. Under Advocaat, AZ achieved solid results and secured European football for the next season.

For the 2010–11 season, AZ appointed [[Gertjan Verbeek]] as its new manager. They finished the [[2010–11 Eredivisie]] in fourth place, thus securing [[2011–12 UEFA Europa League|Europa League football]] for the next season, while in the [[2010–11 KNVB Cup|KNVB Cup]], AZ reached the last eight, where they were beaten by rivals Ajax by a 1–0 scoreline. AZ also finished third in their [[2010–11 UEFA Europa League|Europa League]] group, thus failing to qualifying for the competition's knockout round.

In the 2011–12 season, AZ finished fourth in the [[2011–12 Eredivisie|Eredivisie]], though performed significantly better in cup competitions, reaching the semi-finals in the [[2011–12 KNVB Cup|KNVB Cup]] (losing to [[Heracles Almelo|Heracles]] after extra time) and the quarter-finals in the Europa League. In the latter, the club ultimately lost to [[Valencia CF|Valencia]] after having defeated [[Udinese Calcio|Udinese]], [[R.S.C. Anderlecht|Anderlecht]], [[Malmö FF]], [[FK Austria Wien|Austria Wien]], [[FC Metalist Kharkiv|Metalist Kharkiv]], [[Aalesunds FK|Aalesund]] and [[FK Baumit Jablonec|Baumit Jablonec]] to reach that stage.

On 21 December 2011, during the quarter-finals of the [[2011–12 KNVB Cup]], a 19-year-old Ajax fan invaded the [[Amsterdam Arena]] pitch in the 36th minute with Ajax winning 1–0, attacking AZ goalkeeper [[Esteban Alvarado]]. The fan slipped and Alvarado kicked the fan twice, prompting the referee to issue the goalkeeper a red card. Following this, AZ manager Gertjan Verbeek ordered his players to leave the pitch for the dressing room in protest. The match was later played on 19 January 2012, with Alvarado's red card rescinded; AZ won 3–2.

The 2012–13 season started in the [[2012–13 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round|Europa League]] with a qualifying play-off round against [[Guus Hiddink]]'s [[FC Anzhi Makhachkala|Anzhi Makhachkala]]. AZ was hammered 6–0 on aggregate. Disappointingly, AZ finished tenth in the [[2012–13 Eredivisie]], although the club won the [[2012–13 KNVB Cup]] after defeating PSV 2–1 in the [[2012–13 KNVB Cup#Final|final]]. As cup winners, AZ automatically qualified for the [[2013–14 UEFA Europa League|2013–14 Europa League]].

In September 2013, just one day after emphatically beating PSV, at the time the [[2013–14 Eredivisie|league leaders]], Verbeek was dismissed as first team manager by the club due to "a lack of chemistry" between management and players.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11912/8948012/eredivisie-az-alkmaar-announce-surprise-sacking-of-coach-gertjan-verbeek|title=Eredivisie: AZ Alkmaar announce surprise sacking of coach Gertjan Verbeek|access-date=3 August 2014|archive-date=22 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222221850/http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11912/8948012/eredivisie-az-alkmaar-announce-surprise-sacking-of-coach-gertjan-verbeek|url-status=live}}</ref> He was replaced by Dick Advocaat for the remainder of the season until a permanent replacement could be found. Advocaat took AZ to the semi-finals of the [[2013–14 KNVB Cup|KNVB Cup]], the quarter-finals of the [[2013–14 UEFA Europa League|Europa League]] and eighth in the league, ultimately losing to [[FC Groningen|Groningen]] in the Europa League play-off final round (their 58th match of the season, a club record).