Wright comes off in the 79th. Tough day for him. Worked hard. Made some good runs. But it was difficult to get the ball to him. Brondby weren't going to let him beat them. Haji was decent on the ball just didn't have it enough. Not his fault. Just the way it goes sometimes. Haji was sacrificed for a defender to preserve the point on the road.
Damn. The gamble didn't pay off. Brondby went ahead 2-1 in the 83rd. Brondby are currently 1st in the result holds up. At least for 24 hrs.
I think the strength is there. He uses it from time-to-time. He just doesn't know how to use effectively and to his advantage. It's almost like he's always been the "big tall kid" that had to adjust to smaller players as opposed to smaller players having to adjust to him.
Commentator openly questioned whether it was the right decision to sub off Wright for a midfielder. It's limited their options going forward. Haji wasn't great and it was tough but I still don't think he should have been pulled. It felt like a conceding move and they were punished for it.
Two things for Haji to get to work on over the next 18 months Hit the gym and drink those protein shakes over the summer. Spend a few weeks training with Sergio Ramos. If Haji can get around him, he can get around anybody
FT 2-1 Brondby Quality match from both teams. Brondby had the slight upper hand and that's why they prevailed and now are top of the table for next 24 hours. Like I said.... tough match for Haji. Not a bad match just tough with little service and fine marking by Maxso who was my MOTM. I can see why he's recently made his Danish NT debut.
Back in 2018-19, when Bournemouth was still playing in the Premier League, they told Maxsø that they would like to sign him, but he had just had a rough time in Turkey, where his club had suffered relegation and they had been keeping him benched, most likely to save some money (transfer add-on's and bonus), when he was not playing. So because he was a bit rusty, Bournemouth told him to sign with the Swiss club Zürich, that they had some sort of agreement with, and so he did, and he played for them in the Europa League group stage where they managed to beat Bayer Leverkusen and progress to the Round of 32 where they then lost to Napoli. He was then told by Zürich and Bournemouth that he was to make a short move to KFC Uerdingen, so Zürich could earn a bit of money for their trouble, just as Uerdingen (that they also had an agreement with), before he was to sign the deal and move to Bournemouth. But then something went wrong in the dealings with Bournemouth and so he suddenly found himself stuck in the German 3rd Liga, which obviously was not going to happen, so having been there for 2 month he decided to buy himself out of his contract; which cost him at least half a million euro if not more, and instead he then signed a 4-year deal with Brøndby in early September 2019. So he is now right back where he started when he was a youth player.
wow super shady....please tell this story to anyone who think that whatever club a player is on = how good they are, their true level, etc
Wright and SønderjyskE are facing Lyngby in the Danish Cup tournament Round of 16 on Wednesday. The Danish Cup tournament has suddenly become more important now that UEFA has granted the Danish Cup winner a place in the Europa League play-off's in 2021-22, and so as minimum also a place in the new Conference League group stage, if they lose in the Europa League play-off's. With this new UEFA tournament plan, the big losers are going to be countries like Switzerland, Greece, Serbia, Croatia, Sweden and Norway, because they are not going to get any spots in the Europa League qualifiers in 2021-22, but will end up directly in the Conference League qualifiers, as can be seen in this access list : https://kassiesa.net/uefa/AccessList2021.html
It's clear that UEFA by creating the lesser important Conference League, have made an upgrade of the Europa League by only letting in clubs from the top-15 leagues + a few Champions from leagues below top-15, on the other hand clubs from the top-4 leagues now no longer need to play any CL or EL qualifiers, but go directly to the Group stage. just as France, Portugal and Russia no longer need to play EL qualifiers. If you are not a top-15 league club, you are now pretty much out of the picture for a Champions League or Europa League group stage, but have to settle with a possible Conference League group stage, that on the other hand will be more easily achieved than it used to be so in the Europa League. So more happy days for clubs from the smaller nations who found it more or less impossible to reach a group stage in the past. For Denmark, we are now 100% sure to get at least two clubs (the Champion and Cup winner) in a group stage of some kind in 2021-22
Starts in cup match: Sådan stiller vi op, når vi skal forsøge at spille os i kvartfinalen i Sydbank Pokalen 💪 #SydbankPokalen #sjelbk pic.twitter.com/n5t4HbA3mA— Sønderjyske Fodbold (@SJFodbold) December 16, 2020
Translate function isn't helping me right now: 40. min: Haji Wright kommer igennem og scorer med stor sikkerhed. 1-1. #sjelbk #sydbankpokalen— Sønderjyske Fodbold (@SJFodbold) December 16, 2020 Min.40, Haji Wright has gone down, with pain written all over his face. 1-1. **OR** 40th min: Haji Wright comes through and scores with great confidence. 1-1. I think it's the 2nd, but damn, TweetDeck.
So many thoughts: #1 What was the goalie thinking in the opening of the highlights. #2 Great to have slow mo replays of guys reacting/slowly walking following a goal but not the live action build up to Haji's goal. #3 Upon seeing the replay of Haji's goal, wow, I remain absolutely astonished at the change in him over the past four months compared to the previous several years. We had multiple instances of him not even running out opportunities that could've been breakaway goals, and in general loafing at times the previous few years, and now we've got him aggressively intercepting passes to score huge goals or a month or two ago when he basically outmuscled an entire defense to break out and then score on a 1v1 with the keeper on a, to quote a line from years ago, "Man's game" quality goal. He just seems a different player. I'm legit scared of him transferring because how much of what's happening is tracable to his comfort, and just general happiness w/his club as opposed to development as a player? I just don't think you can change your talent/skill level this much in a couple of months, it just seems like this is what kind of player Haji can be when he's truly found his place, his home, his club, and of course his true form. I kinda don't want him to leave here until/unless the coach leaves I have not seen him play like this since he and Pulisic were eviscerating teams in the Nike Friendlies back in late '14 when Haji won the Golden Ball. This just seems like that Haji. Happy Haji, confident Haji, no idea what you call it, but he is just a different man this year and you can't really call it a streak because at this point it's nearly half a season and has gone on unabated scoring all manner of goals. This is what so many of us Youth Board posters were hoping he'd become five years ago and why Grantland was focusing on him rather than Pulisic for probably their only ever article about US Youth prospects and the U17 six years ago. Link: https://grantland.com/the-triangle/usmnt-u17-haji-wright-development/ I've linked this once or twice before several years ago, but it's a funny article as a time capsule, and it shows how much has changed in a just a few years.
The pitch was in ridiculously poor shape, full of holes and so the ball was often getting stuck or jumping both right and left, and this also made passing the ball in a meaningful way quite difficult, which the keeper soon discovered, just as it was a Lyngby player trying to pass the ball, but Wright picking it up to make his quick run and a goal.
Wright is out there doing it for the haters. Good for dude. He scores the goal, picks the ball out of the net, and walks it back. It’s for all the fools who called him arrogant. Just bagging goals and you don’t hear a peep out of him.
everyone in this thread when he was playing for schalke as a teen.....kinda funny hoppe doesnt get 1/8th of the same vitriol.....the hate was palpable then.
It comes off more schizophrenic that you’re pretending that you can’t jump back just a few pages and see the posts yourself. But I think schizophrenia can manifest itself in projection.
He gave all of his critics (including myself) plenty of ammo, don't forget, especially when he was loaned out at Sandhausen. There were games where he didn't just not put in more than the bare minimum, but he didn't put in any effort at all. In one game, Sandhausen were bunkering, on a corner IIRC, and one of their guys won possession and sprinted deep into the other team's half, almost to the edge of the box, shadowed all the way by both of the two guys left back to cover. All he needed was an outlet for an ultra-simple square pass to a guy who'd be left one-on-one with the GK. And his outlet was . . . Haji, jog-trotting up to the the halfway line when his team mate was already at the edge of the box. The break was smothered and 2 points were lost. That particular move was filmed and posted on this thread but the guys who watched his games and the Sandhausen fan sites had plenty of other examples, and it's not as if he was any good in the Eredivisie either. He wasn't. He played 22 league games, mostly starts, and produced exactly one assist. If people gave him hate on here (they mostly didn't, because criticism isn't hate), it's not as if he earned any love. He's turned it around this season, which is great and long may it continue. I just hope it's coming from within himself as much as it's coming from a reputedly charismatic man-motivator coach. If it is, he'll do reasonably well (think BL2 or better) into the future, wherever he goes.
Btw ... an extensive report and analysis of Danish football has recently been published. besides describing the present and possible future development and direction Danish football is heading, down to every aspect of the game, it is also very much comparing the Danish Superliga with the English Premier League and German Bundesliga, and so is also a highly interesting read, if you are only interested in an extensive analysis of the top leagues and what they focus on. The Executive Summary of the report : This project uses football event data to compare the Danish Superliga, English Premier League and German Bundesliga over a five season period beginning in 2014-15. While professional football contains many strong similarities across different leagues, it is also clear that distinct differences exist and StatsBomb was able to draw them out by evaluating datasets for each league. ● Open Play: The Danish Superliga has kept pace with the Premier League in terms of goals, shots, and expected goals volumes, yet both leagues sit below the more action packed Bundesliga. There is also a lessened disparity between the top and bottom Danish teams in comparison to the other leagues. ● Set Pieces: Danish teams score more goals from set pieces than their counterparts in the Premier League and Bundesliga. This includes direct free kicks, corners or indirect free kicks and especially throw ins. The last of which they utilize to a notable extent. Weaker teams across all leagues rely heavily on set pieces, however stronger teams in Denmark get more out of them than their English and German peers. ● Passing: All leagues are moving towards a shorter passing, possession focused approach. Yet the Danish Superliga overall remains a more direct competition. Danish teams also use the wide areas more for creating chances. ● Age: The average age of players in the Danish Superliga is younger than the Premier League and, to a lesser extent, the Bundesliga. Likely due to the Danish leagues comparatively lower resources leading to more of a developmental approach. From first glance Danish football resembles the elite of European football in many facets, and it follows many similar trends. Yet a deeper look reveals it to be a more direct league with an innovative focus on set pieces. The full report in English you can find right here from the Danish League Association website (pdf file) : https://divisionsforeningen.dk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Superliga_Analysis.pdf Regarding Set Pieces, then I personal think the high focus on this aspect of the game in the Superliga has very much to do with lack of stability in general, because Danish teams more often are in a development phase due to the high focus on export of their top talent, and so they try to compensate and add some other kind of stability and extra quality to their team by having much more focus on all sorts of set pieces.