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Quick thread on dual nat Kik Pierie’s season with Twente:
A lot of people wrote him off b/c he diddn’t debut for the Ajax senior side last season and was thrown to the reserves. Turns out it was just a bad fit. He’s had a good season & looks close to a top Eredivisie CB.
A lot of people wrote him off b/c he diddn’t debut for the Ajax senior side last season and was thrown to the reserves. Turns out it was just a bad fit. He’s had a good season & looks close to a top Eredivisie CB.
When reading, keep in mind I got these numbers for center backs who have played *at least* 10 games from WhoScored. Also worth remembering he missed their whole preseason and first 3 games through injury/fitness.
He’s 9th in tackle won/90 and has won 80% (16/20) of his tackles. Doesn’t attempt many tackles. But like Maldini said “If I have to make a tackle I’ve already made a mistake”. The eye test also suggests this is because of good positioning to make attackers pass elsewhere.
He’s 3rd in ints/90 & 5th in clearances/90. Clearances aren’t a *great* stat to judge defending, but the eye test sees a lot of set piece clearances instead of booting the ball up the field just because.
His headers won % is 57.5%. Before you frown at that, here’s some comparisons:
Blind-60.4%
Senesi-58.5%
Teze-51.4%
Schuurs-48.8%
So that's not a bad percentage at all.
Blind-60.4%
Senesi-58.5%
Teze-51.4%
Schuurs-48.8%
So that's not a bad percentage at all.
Passing: he’s 13th for acc long balls/90 but 1st in inacc long balls/90! However, the number *was* higher after 5 games & it’s trending down. I can chalk this up to more familiarity w/ teammates & closing out 1-goal games by hitting passes to the corner that wingers can’t get to.
He’s 6th in passes/90 & is consistently one of the Twente players who attempts the most passes per game.
Highest % of overall defensive duals won here. Only 1 of 5 center back in quadrant I. https://twitter.com/lambertsmarc/status/1347251592337248259?s=20
You can see he’s trying to play passes into the seam between RB and RCB when the opportunity presents itself.
Also known as "line breaking" or whatever the hip terminology is. More comfortable w/ that pass as the season has gone on.
Also known as "line breaking" or whatever the hip terminology is. More comfortable w/ that pass as the season has gone on.
Just made his 2nd or 3rd TOTW, too.
So yeah. Maybe he gets a u21 Dutch call up in March. Maybe he doesn’t. But after a headscratcher of a season he’s back on track. I can definitely see him as a long-term Brooks replacement. At the very least, he could be a more athletic Ream.
So yeah. Maybe he gets a u21 Dutch call up in March. Maybe he doesn’t. But after a headscratcher of a season he’s back on track. I can definitely see him as a long-term Brooks replacement. At the very least, he could be a more athletic Ream.
It’s very likely he passes 7,000 Eredivisie minutes before he turns 21, which is a ton.
There's uncertainty surrounding our CB pool. There are potential guys like Mark, Chris, etc. But I think Gregg is at least in Kik's (agent's) ear & monitoring his Dutch call ups.
There's uncertainty surrounding our CB pool. There are potential guys like Mark, Chris, etc. But I think Gregg is at least in Kik's (agent's) ear & monitoring his Dutch call ups.
But then again, maybe it's "the Netherlands or nothing" for him. You never really know until it happens.
