frank Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 Tonight the game FC Köln - FC Kaiserslautern will close the 17th and last gameday in the first half of the season. After his injury, Patrice Bernier is back in the team and will likely start for the Red Devils. Together with his teammate Josh Simpson he will try to safe Coach Rekdal´s head. With another defeat his days in K´town are counted. With a victory Cologne could occupy a promotion spot. The game will be televised in DSF, starting 20:15H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forthegoodofthegame Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 Simpson just scored from a Bernier corner kick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 quote:Originally posted by forthegoodofthegame Simpson just scored from a Bernier corner kick! Was Mckenna marking Simpson? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forthegoodofthegame Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 Now Mckenna scores! 3 Canadians on the points board tonight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 quote:Originally posted by forthegoodofthegame Now Mckenna scores! 3 Canadians on the points board tonight Great to see, especially with Simpson continuing his run of form. How did some of the media rate overall match performances? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 quote:Originally posted by forthegoodofthegame Now Mckenna scores! 3 Canadians on the points board tonight Great to see, especially with Simpson continuing his run of form. How did some of the media rate overall match performances? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FCH Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 http://www.sport1.de/de/sport/artikel_2045242.html http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/2bundesliga/startseite/artikel/373113/ http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/2bundesliga/spieltag/spielpaarungsbericht/object/808014 According to these articles it was a high tempo game with not so much finesse but both teams made up for it with effort and attitude. Second article shows Mc Kenna scoring the equalizer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 There was also an interview with Josh Simpson after the game. http://www.bundesliga.de/de/liga2/news/2007/index.php?f=82859.php&fla=1 It´s about the game of yesterday, the situation of the FCK in generell, his two friends Kevin McKenna and Rob Friend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 Note to the experts who come down on Kevin McKenna, the man is a player and a leader. Now with Koeln for only 6 months, he wore the captain's armband Sunday and made kicker's dream team for an outstanding game (that puts Koeln into promotion territory at the winter break). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Ed Note to the experts who come down on Kevin McKenna, the man is a player and a leader. Now with Koeln for only 6 months, he wore the captain's armband Sunday and made kicker's dream team for an outstanding game (that puts Koeln into promotion territory at the winter break). I'm pretty sure everyone agrees that Big Kev is about as solid as they come at the Bundesliga 2 level. He's a good defender and he scored 10 goals in the 05/06 season afterall...i think it's when people assume that his play translates well to CONCACAF and playing for Canada that some pipe in with their "not so fast" comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toronto MB Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 On the topic of McKenna for Canada: I have seen him play for Koln where he is an absolute beast, and definitely a top 4 figure on that club. Strong in the air as always, extremely fit, extremely hard working and an excellent leader. As for his pace, I think many people underestimate his pace, McKenna is not "slow". For a 6'3'' central defender he has adequate pace. Certainly faster than JDV. The one big question mark in Kevin's play is his distribution. Perhaps it is a bit limited. He had an atrocious game against South Africa, but I am confident he will bounce back. Best-case scneario is a Nsaliwa-McKenna pairing at CB. They compliment each other well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
An Observer Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 I maybe totally wrong here but my view on McKenna is that he is a leader and a rock at club level. However, I think he does lack some pace which is more likely to be exposed at international level where speed is more on show than at club level. Also, I think he is the type of player that at club level can compensate for his lack of pace by reading the game which entails understanding the reactions of his midfield and fellow defenders. As our national side plays so few games, this is more exposed than if he had the opportunity to play with this group for 3 or 4 months. A guy with pace is not so exposed as his pace lets him recover from his poor positioning and lack of understanding of how his teammates will react. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 quote:Originally posted by An Observer I maybe totally wrong here but my view on McKenna is that he is a leader and a rock at club level. However, I think he does lack some pace which is more likely to be exposed at international level where speed is more on show than at club level. Also, I think he is the type of player that at club level can compensate for his lack of pace by reading the game which entails understanding the reactions of his midfield and fellow defenders. As our national side plays so few games, this is more exposed than if he had the opportunity to play with this group for 3 or 4 months. A guy with pace is not so exposed as his pace lets him recover from his poor positioning and lack of understanding of how his teammates will react. I don't disagree with you about the importance of pace in defending; if you end up being isolated in a 1 v 1 match up and you don't have an extra gear for a recovery run, you're cooked, regardless of how well you read the game. If you have no wheels your opponents, both at club and international levels, will find a way to victimize you. I have seen previous arguments on here about McKenna's style of play not translating well at the CONCACAF level, stating that he's not able to deal effectively with "fast, technical" opponents. His detractors would probably make your argument that the consistency of playing with regular teammates at club level helps his overall performance. I don't see him play enough in Germany to draw a conclusion about this but I'm going to guess that he has faced a number of fast, technical strikers in 1 v 1 situations in recent Bundesliga 1 and 2 matches and probably has done well enough to earn his coaches' trust. I have to admit to not really warming to him as a defender with the MNT in his earlier years, instead being far more impressed with his goal poaching as a striker. But I thought he and Hutchinson did a good job together at the 2005 Gold Cup and since then he has established himself as a regular centre back in a good league (Bundesliga 1 and a rising team in Div 2). To me, it's a question of finding the right partner for him, as suggested by Toronto MB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnipeg Fury Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 Toppmoeller quits struggling Kaiserslautern AFP December 20, 2007 KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany (AFP) - Klaus Toppmoeller, the head coach of Georgia's national side, has quit struggling second-division side Kaiserslautern only six weeks after taking over as director of sport. The 56-year-old had wanted to replace current coach Kjetil Rekdal with former German captain Lothar Matthaeus at the third from bottom side. But the club's bosses have confirmed Norwegian Rekdal will remain in charge. Blighted with serious financial problems Kaiserslautern, German champions in 1951, 1953,1991 and 1998, are struggling after just three wins all season. They were relegated from the Bundesliga in May 2006. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 I am not a big fan of Toppmoeller but do agree that Rekdal was a poor choice for coach and should be fired. However, I can't think of a much worse choice to replace Rekdal than Matthaeus. That Toppmoeller would suggest him lowers my opinion of Toppmoeller even further. Maybe Wolfgang Funkel who took over the team successfully last year after Wolf was fired should take over again as I think he is still assistent coach. Another good choice would be the former Cottbus coach Petrik Sander (McKenna's former coach) who would be a lot cheaper and more competent than Matthaeus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 Not much related to our Canadians over in Germany, but it was very satisfying to see Paul Stalteri's ex-teammate Ivan Klasnic return to Werder Bremen last weekend. There are comeback stories out there, but to come back from a kidney transplant (at least his second, as I know one transplant for sure was rejected), score two goals in that return game and put your team level as league leaders at the Christmas break, some story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly However, I can't think of a much worse choice to replace Rekdal than Matthaeus. AGREED! His managerial CV is nightmare! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 Unfortunatelly the situation in Kaiserslautern is a only chaos. The public image is much poorer than the standing in the tablets reflect it. But not firing Coach Rekdal was the best what could happen. The team is very young, unexpereineced but has a pretty outlook. Togehter with him the team will be able not to relegate, I´m sure. All of them so many coaches werew fired in the last 6 years without any success. So give him the cahnce, he will make it, I bet I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I´m looking forward continuing discuss with you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VI Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 I think this is a new post on youtube of Josh Simpson clips. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBB6-Gd_NEM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 Not player related but here are a couple of examples of a useful national organization, one promoting the men's team "DFB builds 1000 mini-soccer pitches around Germany" and the second a promo shoot for their Women's team and a promo on the WC victory debuts on January 2nd on ARD, one of the big German TV networks). http://www.dfb.de/index.php?id=503957 and http://www.dfb.de/fileadmin/bildstrecken/frauennationalmannschaft/071030_shooting/01.jpg http://www.dfb.de/index.php?id=504112 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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