Clinging and Climbing: Sam Vines at Royal Antwerp

Boring, unassuming, steps right in, gets the job done, on a very good Antwerp side. Play nice ball overall. Folks should watch them if they get the chance. If he puts two years in like this, and improves his offensive involvement, he will have a chance to play in a top league.

 

On the bench:

Onze starting XI voor vanavond! 💪#KVOANT #COYR🔴⚪ pic.twitter.com/lJouPnqEb0

— Royal Antwerp FC (@official_rafc) January 21, 2022

 

Staying fresh!

 

Starts (On ESPN+):

STARTING 1⃣1⃣! 👊#RAFC #ANTSTV #COYR🔴⚪ #OneRedFamily pic.twitter.com/NseGUmQ2V2

— Royal Antwerp FC (@official_rafc) January 25, 2022

 

On the bench:

Deze 11 Reds starten in de Ghelamco Arena! #GNTANT #COYR pic.twitter.com/GYc6DQzb7Y

— Royal Antwerp FC (@official_rafc) January 30, 2022

 

Vines gets the midweek start against KV Kortrijk, but it appears Reynolds is not in the squad so no head-to-head. Saw a media report that had him at right back with de Laet on the left, but presumably that will prove wrong.

 

Antwerp down to 10 players in the 9th minute. Sam is gonna have to defend hard for a long time.

 

Make it 9 players.

Antwerp up 1-0 in the 61st but down to 9 players on a pair of reds

EDIT: VAR overturns the 2nd red. Antwerp playing with 10 men

DOUBLE EDIT: Kortrijk now given a red. So it's 10 vs. 10.

 

Too many Yanks in Belgium and Scotland for me to keep track of.

 

When one proves themselves as one of their teams better players over a season plus, or immediately stand out as a cut above, follow.

Otherwise there will be a lot of meh guys who some try to overanalyze to death as they try to show how smart they are, and how dumb or Nats coach is for not calling them in, thus ruining their careers.

I’d also pay attention to Belgium way before Scotland also.

 

Kortrijk vs Antwerp
- Sam Vines starts
- Kortrijk only 4 subs, no Reynolds
- Antwerp suffer 9th min red
- Antwerp score 19th min
- Antwerp suffer 61st min red & penalty
- VAR overturns both
- Kortrijk suffer 68th min red
- Antwerp score 90th min, 2-0
- Match aborted, fan violence

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) February 2, 2022

 

Starts (on ESPN+):

STARTING 1⃣1⃣! 👊#RAFC #ANTUSG #COYR🔴⚪ #OneRedFamily pic.twitter.com/pIdO6MJMhN

— Royal Antwerp FC (@official_rafc) February 5, 2022

 

On the bench:

Onze 11 starters, met Faris in de basis! 💪#RAFC #SERANT #COYR🔴⚪ pic.twitter.com/KEQ4JE2K9o

— Royal Antwerp FC (@official_rafc) February 11, 2022

 

Vines DNP but Antwerp won 0-1 very late on an opposition own goal.

 

Vines subbed on at his usual left back in the 85th minute, like for like fresh legs sub - commentator said de Laet was gassed. Antwerp had just reduced their deficit to 2-1.

Pushed forward hard, played two well-struck balls to dangerous spots in the box. Funny to see him rushing to the penalty spot a couple of times to be on the other side of crosses as well - clearly coached to improvise aggressively looking for the equalizer.

 

Came off the bench as they were chasing a goal in a 2-1 loss:

STARTING 1⃣1⃣! 👊#RAFC #ANTKVM #COYR🔴⚪ #OneRedFamily pic.twitter.com/wqls1v13AV

— Royal Antwerp FC (@official_rafc) February 20, 2022

Had some nice passes in the scramble.

 

No Vines today vs Beerschot. This appears to be the second time this season that he hasn't been on a gameday squad when healthy (the other being the first game of the season). Anyone know anything about why he's not there today?

 

Vines starts, gets a yellow, and is subbed off at the half for Bataille. Vines was credited with a goal line clearance and his ratings were OK, so don't know if it was the card or what. Bataille is probably better overall anyway, so not necessarily an insult.

 

Spot checked the replay of this game - Vines not involved in either goal while he was in there, for or against. Yellow was a little rough - lunging tackle gets the ball, makes contact with the attacker's ankle well after, but I think Vines had the right to the spot - attacker was not close to the ball.

 

Not in the squad today:

STARTING 1⃣1⃣! 👊#RAFC #ANTZWA #COYR🔴⚪ #OneRedFamily pic.twitter.com/lkCrDYl0tf

— Royal Antwerp FC (@official_rafc) March 19, 2022

 

Hmmm. Strange. Any info on why?

 

Nothing floating around, but he was subbed out at the half in the previous match.

 

You don't willingly sub out a defender at half-time unless he's either shitting the bed or mutinously disobeying tactical instructions. Since there hasn't been any sign of that, Occam's Razor suggests that he picked up a knock and was taken off as a precaution and he was left out of the squad because the knock isn't responding to treatment.

 

Get to know: Sam Vines & Alhassan Yusuf! 🇺🇸🤝🇳🇬#RAFC #HetAntwerpAntwoord #OneRedFamily pic.twitter.com/Vx7HtNyFpP

— Royal Antwerp FC (@official_rafc) March 30, 2022