De Vries effort will long live in the memory
I have only seen Mark De Vries play once before Sunday evening. This was in an FA Cup defeat at Ewood Park last season. I remember thinking that he was similar to Dion Dublin with his height and strength in the air, and that he was a useful acquisition for Leicester City.
In expectation of Spurs visiting Leicester, I thought of the prospect of De Vries troubling the young centre-backs from North London with his attributes.
But what materialised during the match blew away my highest hopes. The 100% non-stop effort and fantastic hold-up play of big De Vries was fantastic to watch, and he crowned a magnificent match with a deserved winner in the 91st minute.
De Vries phenomenal spirit and stunning display of powerful target-man play was one of the best performances I've seen from a footballer in a long time, and I'll definitely remember it for some time to come.
I love cup upsets. And a comeback from two goals down to beat a Spurs team enjoying their best season in many years is definitely a huge cup-upset. But it was also certainly deserved given the commitment, desire and quality shown by each one of Leicester's players.
A special note should go to the Islington-born, Arsenal player Ryan Smith who is a left winger with huge potential. He is only 19 and yet has already had cruciate ligament damage in his fledgling career. I had looked forward to seeing how he's progressing, and I thought his dribbling skills and crosses during the match were excellent.
posted by T at 1/09/2006 11:43:00 am
EFT match of the season for 2008/2009: Barcelona construct a masterclass footballing performance to defeat the reigning Champions League holders and current English champions, Manchester United, by a scoreline of 2-0 in the 2009 Champions League final in Rome
EFT player of the season for 2008/2009: Chelsea central midfielder, Frank Lampard
EFT player of the month for May 2009: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)
EFT player of the month for April 2009: Andrey Arshavin (Arsenal)
EFT player of the month for March 2009: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for February 2009: Phil Jagielka (Everton)
EFT player of the month for January 2009: Nemanja Vidic (Man Utd)
EFT player of the month for December 2008: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for November 2008: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)
EFT player of the month for October 2008: Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for September 2008: Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
EFT player of the month for August 2008: Amr Zaki (Wigan Athletic)
EFT match of Euro 2008: Turkey's amazing comeback from two goals down to beat Czech Republic 3-2 as captain Nihat Kahveci's two goals in the last three minutes sensationally put his country through to the quarter finals at the expense of their beaten opponents
EFT player of Euro 2008: Spain (anchor) central midfielder, Marcos Senna
EFT match of the season for 2007/2008: Liverpool win titanic Champions League quarter-final second leg 4-2 against Arsenal that also saw two of the best football moments of the season - Fernando Torres' top corner strike and Theo Walcott's thrilling run across the whole of Anfield.
EFT player of the season for 2007/2008: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
EFT player of the month for May 2008: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
EFT player of the month for April 2008: Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
EFT player of the month for March 2008: Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for February 2008: David James (Portsmouth)
EFT player of the month for January 2008: Ronaldo (Manchester United)
EFT player of the month for December 2007: Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn Rovers)
EFT player of the month for November 2007: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for October 2007: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
EFT player of the month for September 2007: Francesc Fabregas (Arsenal)
EFT player of the month for August 2007: Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for May 2007: Carlos Tevez (West Ham Utd)
EFT player of the month for April 2007: Wayne Rooney (Manchester Utd)
EFT player of the month for March 2007: Carlos Tevez (West Ham Utd)
EFT player of the month for February 2007: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester Utd)
EFT player of the month for January 2007: Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
EFT player of the month for December 2006: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester Utd)
EFT player of the month for November 2006: Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
EFT player of the month for October 2006: Jussi Jaaskelainen (Bolton Wanderers)
EFT player of the month for September 2006: Andrew Johnson (Everton)
EFT player of the month for August 2006: Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth)
EFT match of World Cup 2006: Italy win a thrilling 'end-to-end' World Cup semi-final 2-0 against Germany courtesy of two late extra time goals from Fabio Grosso and Alessandro del Piero 
EFT player of World Cup 2006: Italy captain and centre-back, Fabio Cannavaro
EFT match of the season for 2005-2006: Liverpool win the FA Cup final 3-1 on penalties against West Ham after a Steven Gerrard-led fighback saw the Anfield side recover from 2-0 and 3-2 down to level the match in normal time
EFT player of the month for May 2006: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for April 2006: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for March 2006: Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur)
EFT player of the month for February 2006: Aiyegbeni Yakubu (Middlesbrough)
EFT player of the month for January 2006: Jason Roberts (Wigan Athletic)
EFT player of the month for December 2005: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for November 2005: Robin van Persie (Arsenal)
EFT player of the month for October 2005: Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
EFT player of the month for September 2005: Danny Murphy (Charlton Athletic)
EFT player of the month for August 2005: Wayne Rooney (Manchester Utd)
EFT match of the season for 2004-2005: Liverpool win Champions League final 3-2 on penalties against AC Milan after sensationally recovering from 3-0 down to level the match in normal time
3 Comments:
De Vries does indeed have the potential to be a great target man, but as Craig Levein has noted his tactic of competing with defenders usually ends with a free-kick to the defending team during Championship matches.
Ryan Smith is already a crowd favourite at Leicester, it's just a shame we can't keep him! He will no doubt progress well as he gains more experience, but I'm not convinced he's good enough to break in to the Arsenal team. When you compare him with someone like Aaron Lennon I'm not sure he's quite good enough.
1/09/2006 1:11 pm
He is very much a battlehorse, is the Dutchman, along the lines of Anon's (1.11PM) comment including Craig Levein's words. De Vries and Leicester showed that the David v Goliath caution is ever more present in these competitions. Torquay were bottom of League Two yet held Birmingham off and almost won the game, and Nuneaton could have had two penalties via Southgate, much less one and now go to The Riverside. Millwall are struggling in the Championship but almost snatched victory against Everton until Leon Osman's equaliser, it's the kind of pedigree in the game that makes for excellent entertainment (for the neutrals at least) and provides for an almost equal platform for both sides, regardless of league position.
RedsMan.
1/09/2006 1:58 pm
Thanx Anon. I hope the victory yesterday kick-starts Leicester's season in the Championship.
I'm happy to hear that Ryan Smith is being received well by Leicester supporters. I agree that Aaron Lennon currently looks on a highly level due to his awesome pace and good crossing ability. Nonetheless, I saw signs from Smith - including a good measure of pass - that are the hallmarks of the Arsenal style and personally I feel with more progression he can be a good member of the AFC squad.
Wenger gave him his first team debut at 16yrs, which is an indication of the hopes he has for Smith. As noted above, he has suffered from injury setbacks in the last two seasons- so the main thing for him this season is to remain injury free and gain valuable first-team experience at Leicester.
I ditto your comments Redsman!
1/09/2006 10:55 pm
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