Vitesse with former Ajax coach de Mos was unlucky not to beat Ajax this weekend. So this will be a tough cookie to swallow. The Vitesse goalie is targeted by Arsenal, so let's see if he can keep Mikey from progressing in toppling Earnie's 17 goals run.
Bradley: Sat 2/2 15:00 GMT Blackburn Rovers - Everton Bradley: Sat 2/2 15:30 CET HSV - Hannover might come in handy...
Man, you know Bradley's the talk of the town if a gameday thread is cropping up for him more than 3 days in advance! I don't think it would.
Over the past 2 years (Jan 08, Jan 06), these are the tournament matches we've played (the only matches that the FA looks at) World Cup Gold Cup Copa America he played in 0 of 3 WC matches, 4 of 6 Gold Cup matches, and 0 of 3 Copa America matches. That 33% is well short of the 75% he would need. Unless he would gain a WP on the unusual talent clause, he would need to appeal.
When exactly does the "unusual talent" clause kick it? Is there some sort of goal-scoring coefficient for each league prior to a transfer to England? This thing has always seemed kind of silly to me.
Germany removed all foreign player restrictions at the beginning of last season. Same with Italy. Not sure about Spain. Depends on who you mean by "they". USA couldn't take South America's ConFed Cup slot, and clubs didn't have to release players for the tournament because as you said, it was a confederation tournament, but not our confederation. The FA and FIFA still view them as "A" matches.
I think they sacrifice chickens, and then read the entrails. Jon Obi Mikel got in under that, but Milan Baros couldn't for Liverpool. Same with a few others.
It will be interesting to see what Vitesse coach de Mos comes up with to block the penetration of Mike into the box and what Verbeek will ddo to counter the tactical moves by de Mos.
Aad de Mos wrote on the Vitesse site: "Aad de Mos: “Heerenveen is één van de meest scorende teams van de Eredivisie. Ik denk zelfs dat ze zonder Alves sterker zijn, dan met. Het gedoe met Alves heeft de saamhorigheid binnen de selectie alleen maar versterkt.” Volgens De Mos wordt de grootste klus zaterdag onder de druk van Heerenveen uit te blijven, omdat de ploeg over het hele veld druk zet. “Het wordt een ping-pong wedstrijd, waarbij de ploeg die structureel de tweede bal weet te bemachtigen en daarnaast de dode spelmomenten weet te benutten, waarschijnlijk spekkoper wordt.” Over zijn eigen team zei De Mos het volgende: “Het gaat zaterdag vooral om één ding en dat is adrenaline. Kunnen we dezelfde mate van adrenaline opwekken als tegen NAC, De Graafschap en afgelopen zondag tegen Ajax, dan geloof ik dat we met drie punten in de binnenzak terug naar Arnhem kunnen. De mate van adrenaline bepaalt namelijk hoe graag je wilt winnen of en hoe je de duels aangaat en of de tweede bal voor jou is. Tegen Willem II (4-0 verlies) was het er niet. Juist die wisselvalligheid maakt Vitesse (nog) geen subtopper, zoals Heerenveen dat op dit moment wel is. Ik heb de jongens ook meegegeven ongecompliceerd te spelen.” He sais that the fuzz around Alves has strengthened the "one heart, one mind feeling" within the Heerenveen team and in fact strenghtened them. The toughest job will be to avoid being pressured by Heerenveen, because Heerenveen applies it all over the pitch. The "second ball" (the ball played and blocked by the defense) will be decisive in this match. About Vitesse he sais that only one thing matters, adrenaline. If Vitesse can get it as high as against NAC, De Graafschap and last sunday against Ajax, then we will return with 3 points. The level of adrenaline determins how eager you are to win. Wonder if that will be "A Bridge Too Far" for the Arnhem team
I'm sure there will be at least one Mickey to score. There are a few tickets left for this match, so if you're around.... (it beats sopcast etc... ) I'm off now for the real thing