Michael Parkhurst at Nordsjaelland (Denmark) discussion thread [R]

1-0 lead at halftime for FC Nordsjælland on a Mikkel Beckmann goal just before the break. FC København also has a 1-0 lead on a Mustafa Abdellaoue goal in the 18th minute.

http://www.nordjyske.dk/artikel/10/5/5/4151509/2/fc-nordsj%E6lland-er-p%E5-guldkurs-ved-pausen

 

2-0 Andreas Laudrup
3-0 Bjelland

game finished... FCN and Parkhurst have won the Danish championship 2011-12
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Parkhurst didn't score, but appears to have missed narrowly:
http://ekstrabladet.dk/sport/fodbold/dansk_fodbold/superligaen/fc_nordsjaelland/article1764494.ece

 

Champions!!!

 

Parkhurst's contract expires in December 2012 - any chance that he leaves the club this summer? I could see him in the Netherlands, or maybe France. I think the Bundesliga might be too much of a jump.

 

The reason he signed the extension is because he wanted to play in European play. Now after making the Champions League group stages, I doubt he leaves.

Honestly, after he leaves FCN, it wouldn't surprise me if he came back to MLS

 

Why make the same mistake as Danny Califf, who left AaB Aalborg right after they won the Danish Championship, so he could join FC Midtjylland and get a pay-raise.... and then missed the Champions League group stage, in a group with Manchester United (2-2 at Old Trafford), Villarreal (2-2 at home) and Celtic (2-1 home and 0-0 away) ... perhaps Califf didnt really think they would be able to qualify, but it happened... and they eliminated Celtic to progress to the later stages of the Europa League, where they beat Deportivo La Coruña both home (3-0) and away (3-1), and then narrowly lost in the Round of 16 in a penalty shoot-out to Manchester City... Califf missed out on all that fun (and bonus money), to get a pay-raise of perhaps $200k a year...

Parkhurst do not even have to worry about qualifiers, since FCN goes directly to the CL group stage this season, so it would be silly to leave FCN this summer.
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He has openly said that it could be the case... but of course, after the CL group stage he could end up getting an offer he cant refuse... but he is turning 29 next time, so I guess it was his plan to win a Danish championship if possible, then play Champions League and return to MLS.
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And if that happens, the Revs have his rights

 

Superliga 2011/12, round 33 (of 33) :
FC Nordsjælland v AC Horsens, 3-0 (1-0)
1-0 Mikkel Beckmann (45)
2-0 Andreas Laudrup (81)
3-0 Andreas Bjelland (87)
Attendance: 10,300 (sold out)
Possession : 60% - 40%
Lineups and match stats from Football-Lineups.com
Highlights :

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holy shit that is a tiny stadium

and they're going to be in CL group stage???

 

Yes... FCN is a small club... They are thinking of perhaps renting the near by Brøndby or Parken (FCK) stadium for the Champions League group stage.
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Its not that small. There are only 15 leagues in UEFA with average attendance over 10,000 and only 4 leagues with average attendance over 20,000.

 

It's pretty damn small. APOEL's capacity is 22859. Otelul Galati's capacity is 13500. Viktoria Plzen's is 12500. On the other hand, BATE Borisov's usual home stadium has a capacity of 5402. (They used a 40000 seat stadium for their European matches.)

Isn't that interesting?

 

Correct, they will be playing their group stage matches in Copenhagen.

 

Congrats to Parkhurst! He may beat Dempsey to Champions League football.

 

I doubt it because I think Dempsey will move to an Elite club like Arsenal in the summer.

 

Well... you have to consider that FCN is a small club from the very small city of Farum with only 18,521 inhabitants, so they are pretty happy about having a nice stadium with a capacity of 10,300 (9,800 seats).
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That is pretty amazing. This is a story you cannot write in the US right now. Just goes to show how much further ingrained Football/Soccer is in Europe compared to the US. I'm from a town of 20,000.

 

Btw.. regarding the highlights including celebrations ... I think they show pretty well, that Parkhurst has been an important player for them this past season..

When he came to the club they had high hopes, but he didn't do all to well as centre back at first and had trouble finding his place in their defense... If it had been a bigger club in a bigger league, they would probably just have placed him on the bench and then sent him on his way, but that is not how they do it here... if the piece does not quite fit the puzzle, they will take another look at the puzzle, to find a place where it may fit, and Parkhurst has developed into a very good right back that fit the FCN style of play just perfectly.
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For those of us who have only been able to watch highlights, such as those above, what might be your observations of Michael as a player? Strengths, weaknesses?

When you say he is an "important" player, what does that mean? Where would you put him in terms of overall importance to the team?

Thanks in advance . . .

 

Well, he has transformed into an important player in the Luciano Spalletti kind of 4-6-0 system FCN have been playing this season, with no actual strikers, but with a strong highly attacking minded midfield and a tight defense, relying on a good short passing game in midfield, and depending on some highly attacking minded full backs... Since Parkhurst has good passing skills, is good at reading the game and able to operate both on the right, left and from the centre at a decent speed and at a consistently good level, he seem perfect as an attacking right back for this kind of system, where you need a lot of movement just outside the box... it has also made him more complete as a player and tactically I think he has learned a lot.

But we are talking about a real team-work here in a team with quite a lot of younger NT players, so it's difficult to talk about an overall importance. He is one of the experienced players, but fans and experts will no doubt point out young Andreas Bjelland as the most important player in this team, which brings me to the centre back position, since this is where Parkhurst clearly has been standing in the shadow of young talents like Bjelland and Okore, who I have to mention, both have been picked for the Danish Euro 2012 squad....

Bjelland has already become first choice along with Daniel Agger in the Danish NT central defense, while Okore is young and take more risks, which he is able to do because of his excellent heading skills, speed and great physique, so he win his duels and considering his age, he make surprisingly few big mistakes, or is simply able to clean up and correct the mistakes himself, when he has made one, so he has really impressed this season...so it's just a tough act to follow for Parkhurst and it's difficult to say how good Parkhurst would do as a regular starter in that position at this point of his career, but a centre back like Goodson does not have the skills to even warm the bench at FCN at this point in time.
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Goodson is solid, but he really doesn't have the ability to shift gears. I feel a lot of US national team fans realize this, but I hope it doesn't leave too bad of a impression in Denmark. Otherwise, I've really come to enjoy following Parkhurst and can only imagine what he could have developed if he made it there a bit earlier.

 

That's nothing, the reigning Super Bowl champion plays in a town of about 8900 people.

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I'm obviously at least half-joking!

 

Even if your half-joking....then yes it is, when you consider that FCN has absolutely no fan-base in nearby Copenhagen (though perhaps they may finally get one now), and that it was the small town that build their stadium, with no private sponsors involved.
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