“‘Phenomenal’ was all a breathless Fred Rutten (Vitesse Arnhem’s manager) could say. A word so rarely uttered in the Eredivisie it took many by surprise. Phenomenal you say? In truth no other superlative could do justice to the display of incredible forward play he had the pleasure of witnessing from one of European footballs most in form strikers. Wilfried Bony.”
Vitesse Arnhem’s 24 year old muscled magician, Wilfried “Daddy Cool” Bony is currently the Eredivisie’s highest scorer and with very good reason. Cheick Tiote’s Ivory Coast team mate is now seen as a natural successor to Didier Drogba with his great strength, dynamism, hold-up play, aerial threat, great finishing abilty and importantly, superb techinique on the ball – He also has a good injury history too. (more…)
Metalist's Brazilian Benny, Taison.With the news that Newcastle United will be facing Metalist Kharkiv over two legs in the the next round of our Europa League campaign, I thought it might be a good idea to probe this side from the north east of Ukraine.
Going on what Alan Pardew said when he was interviewed about the draw, he seems to know buggerall about them. When probed on how much he know about Metalist, he replied:
“Not much really”
So, Alan, you may find this helpful!
Currently fourth in the Ukrainian Premier Liga (behind Shakhtar Donetsk, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Dynamo Kyiv), they finished third last season as they have for the last six seasons, always behind the big two Ukrainian giants, Dynamo Kyiv and Shaktar Donetsk.
Roughly, they are strong side who are more or less on the same kind of level as our toughest opponents in the group stage, Girondins de Bordeaux, who we beat 3-0 at home and lost to 2-0 at their place. (more…)
Mike Williamson: You're simply the best!He is according to football stats site “whoscored.com” anyway, where he is Newcastle United’s only representative in their Premiership team of the season so far.
In this he joins players such as Robin van Persie, Juan Mata, Gareth Bale and other top players, just nudging out Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen as best centre back, and tying with Everton’s Leighton Baines as best defender in the league full stop, with an overall rating of 7.6 out of 10.
Like Danny Simpson last season, Williamson is a vastly underrated player who may confound some of his armchair critics within the Newcastle United fanbase with his excellent defending statistics. It won’t confound Newcastle United’s Silver Supremo, Alan Pardew though, who recently said of the big lad:
“Willo’s been brilliant. People forget I’ve never favoured anybody over anybody else, and Willo put in one of his great performances (against the Mackems -wt). He was brilliant for us.”(more…)
Team: F.C. des Girondins de Bordeaux. League: French Ligue 1. Position last season: 5th. Stadium: Stade Chaban Delmas, Bordeaux. Last major trophy: Ligue 1, Coupe de la Ligue, Trophée des champions – 2009. Fixture dates: Thurs, 4th Oct (H), Thurs, 6th Dec (A).
A silver haired Supremo in his early fifties, his team came fifth in the League last season. However, after a major clearout of players from his team and a need for replacements, he found himself ultimately frustrated in the hunt for new players in the last transfer window, with his club at an important stage in it’s development.
Who else could I be referring to other than Francis Gillot, the 52 year old Silver Supremo of our forthcoming Europa League Group Stage opponents, Girondins de Bordeaux? Whilst they may not be quite what they were in their last heyday under Laurent Blanc (2007-10) yet, they should still provide by far the stiffest test in our battle to get through the first Europa League group stage.
Anita: Excellent vision and technique for a defensive playerOf course, there was much delight on Tyneside when Newcastle United announced they had finally signed the very talented and versatile midfielder and defender, Vurnon Anita, from Ajax.
So, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at Anita’s game gathered from my experience of watching him in the Eredivisie, though it is hardly extensive. I have also included a cornupcopia of videos of the 23 year old mostly looking at his individual contributions in five Eredivisie games, as well as a few more just for fun. Before I get to the videos though, here’s an outline of Anita’s game.
Primarily a defensive midfielder nowadays, Anita started as a right footed right back, and he has also played as a left back too. Though Ajax’s Gregory van der Wiel has kept him from keeping his hand in on the right side of defence in recent times, I’m sure that he could still hold his own there too. (more…)
