Finished Groningen 2-2 Twente - an unsatisfying result for Twente, obviously. Pierie played from start to finish.
I watched this game this morning to watch Kik play. He is ok, still a young player. He is good with the ball and stepping into midfield to win the ball. He will pass through lines and is graceful and smooth with the ball at his left foot. He was clearly beaten on the second goal when his man ran onto a cross in front of him. Wasn’t blameless on the first, either. Not imposing physically, and struggled on one or two plays when real defensive actions were required. Hopefully he gets bigger and grows with experience. God knows we could use left footed center backs who can play left back in a pinch.
Starts: 🔴 De namen voor vandaag.#fctwente #twevvv pic.twitter.com/q92jOUUctM— FC Twente (@fctwente) January 24, 2021
Profile: Our SSFC Spotlight focuses on a dual national who is trying to get back on track in the Netherlands. #USMNT #foraja #FCTwente https://t.co/Pg08CjSH1y— Stars and Stripes FC (@StarsStripesFC) January 28, 2021
90+ today for Boston-born 🇺🇸🇳🇱 dual nat CB, Kik Pierie, for FC Twente's 0-0 draw vs Heerenveen in Holland's top tier.according to fotmob, Kik was tied with their goalkeeper for highest rated FC Twente player pic.twitter.com/88thfOZFSE— 🇺🇸 ⚽ east (@eastdeflection) January 31, 2021
Watched the match and it was an uneventfull match. Not much difficulties to solve for Kik. He had one vital block for a shot at the goal though. He played well in a match fc Twente dominated for most of the time. In about (my visual observation, not scientifical) 60% of the cases fc Twente won back the ball within 5-15 seconds.
Starts: ➡ De opstellingGijs Smal en Godfried Roemeratoe zitten vanwege een blessure vandaag niet bij de selectie🔴 #FCTwente ⚽ #twepsv pic.twitter.com/IPJmLoVrQz— FC Twente (@fctwente) February 6, 2021 Down 2-0 at the half. Match on ESPN+.
I caught about 30 minutes in between other games. Pierie’s man scored the first after the keeper parried a cross in his path, and Kik was very easily pulled out of position on the second. Same kind of thing, pretty good on the ball, looks to initiate the attack with his passing, some good positives there. Focus and positional awareness in defending not yet a strength.
Starts: 🔴🔥 Oosterwolde terug in de basis.#vittwe #fctwente pic.twitter.com/gSoMUcse3b— FC Twente (@fctwente) February 14, 2021
Team of the Week: 🔝1⃣1⃣ Dit is ons Elftal van de Week van Eredivisie-speelronde 22. pic.twitter.com/TuRub9byne— Voetbal International (@VI_nl) February 15, 2021
Seems a likeable kid. he’s seeing the light that his international future isn’t with the oranje. The twente loan seems to be working out ok. Would like him to be in the March camp.
That sort of seems like it. And that would be fantastic news for us... for both left back and center back (note that we don’t have many great young center backs). Also, he has been doing incredibly well in the Eredivisie. He would be a major asset.
I don’t keep up with their national team much, but are they really that deep at center back? At 20, he’s still very young for that position, and it seems difficult to say what his ceiling is right now. with the US, he’s not passing brooks before brooks ages out, and McKenzie is a pretty good left-footed center back as well. I’d love to have Pierie, but more for depth and competition purposes, as I don’t think he’s even a lock for the 23. If I’m him and I really want to play for them, I wait 2-3 more years to see what things look like then.
Hard to guess what things look in 2-3 years, but talking of the late 2022 him going to Qatar is the thing.
It’s very possible that he waits for them... But 2 things: #1 He should be a lock for our 23. Just for the fact that he’s an adequate left back and center back. From a roster flexibility situation, that would allow us to bring one extra midfielder or forward if we needed. He should walk into the left back spot - either as the starter or sub. And he’s arguably having the best year for a center back in our playing pool outside of John Brooks... he’s winning team of the week honors regularly now. I’d be shocked if Ajax didn’t pick him back up. #2 Holland is stacked at center back and it would be hell to crack through. Let’s remember that they have the two best defenders in the world: Van Dijk and de Ligt. Yes, Van Dijk is old and injured now - but Botman is a damn good defender, and the same age as Pierie. Then, once you get past them, there’s a very good class of veteran center backs: De Vrij, Van Dijk, Ake, Blind, and Veltman. After them, the next generation of Fosu-Mensah (RB, CDM), Teze, Hoogma, Schuurs, Timber. There’s still Knoester, Obispo, Bazoer, Pinas, Van Hecke, Hendriks, and Doeki. And they have Rensch and Bogarde rising up the ranks. So, Pierie faces tough competition. And he runs into similar problems at left back. In reality, he’s going to have to get back into Ajax’s first team, start, and be a key player, to get into the rotation. Is that possible? Sure. But that’s not happening today or tomorrow.
H Thanks, but I strongly disagree on him being any sort of lock for the 23. At LCB, brooks has the starting role pretty much locked up for the next two years. It would seem to me that Pierie is in contention with McKenzie for the backup spot, and I would say they both have a good shot. Pierie’s ability to play left back is very helpful, but I wouldn’t want to have only one backup combined at LB and LCB, so he would most likely be in contention for the backup LB spot if we take 4 other CBs as well. I would personally only want to take him for that if he is better at LB than everyone else but Robinson, which is possible, but not certain. I think a lot depends on which is more important to him, a chance to play early, or a chance to play for the Dutch. If he commits to the US and shows moderate development over his career, I think it’s safe to believe that he could be an improved Tim Ream (who has 41 caps), but I would not say he’s a lock to be called in for major tournaments in case he becomes a good starter for an above average team in a top league, like brooks. And if he reaches that level, he will be getting called into the Netherlands (though perhaps not for major tournaments). I would love to have Pierie as brooks could get injured, and competition will be very useful for everyone, but thankfully we are getting to a place where we don’t need to take drastic measures to lock up dual nationals. Even Musah, who would be a huge pickup, isn’t a lock for the starting 11.
New to this conversation. What is the drastic measure you reference being considered to kick up this player?
I’m not saying that berhalter is using drastic measures to recruit him, I was more referring to Klinsmann’s recruitment of the German Americans, who he gave easier paths to playing time to. And I don’t think Klinsmann was wrong given the state of the talent pool at the time. But I think Berhalter can simply let guys like Musah, Alvarez, and possibly Pierie come into camp to see what the atmosphere is like and where they might fit in, and let them decide. We will be okay without any one player, and giving guys undeserved playing time would/will piss off very talented players in the squad.
Fair enough... we all have our convictions. I mean, I could be hyping him up, he commits and he turns out to be a dud at the international level. Or, he could be a hit. I predict that he’s going to do well - but that’s just my prediction. And I really like him for that back up left back spot. Essentially, he kicks Vines off the roster, although Vines could prove to keep his spot.