Played 90 mins in a 2-0 win over Twente
Ryan Thomas (PEC Zwolle | Netherlands)
Much better start to the year than last year.
Starting vs Ajax this morning, game starts at 6:45am. Should be a stream here if anyone is interested http://wiz1.net/channel108
Thomas 90 mins in a 3-0 loss, in front of 50,000 Ajax fans. Huntelaar 2 goals for Ajax
90 mins in a 2-1 win over Heracles
Zwolle 4th on the table. Rojas' Heerenveen are 3rd
judging by the stats another solid game with very high completion rate and movement. I honestly reckon he's going to get a move to a big club soon. He has to stay fit if we have any chance in November
Zwolle get a 5-0 win in Dutch Cup over a 4th tier side. Thomas plays 90 mins and is credited with an assist
Played 90 mins as Zwolle drew 1-1 with VVV. Terry Antonis on the bench for VVV
Scored in a 3-2 win this morning
hand injury?
Well taken goal. The ball was rising fast but he was able to keep it down...which was great.
90 mins in a 0-0 draw verus Feyenoord
PEC Zwolle are currently second in the table after a solid display in Breda against NAC. The BlauwVingers are enjoying their best ever start to the Eredivisie in their club history.
Under coach John van 't Schip, previously with Ajax, Mexican Chivas Guadalajara and Australian Melbourne City, PEC Zwolle play modern, spirited and realistic football. The BlauwVingers are no longer a disbalanced team of mercenaries they turned into after their Dutch FA cup win in 2014.
The key factor now is stability.
Travelling between Europe and Africa I have now seen PEC Zwolle live three times this season.
PEC Zwolle, with the exception of Thomas how many of the winning cup team are still in the 1st 11 today?
PEC Zwolle, with the exception of Thomas how many of the winning cup team are still in the 1st 11 today?
Defender Bram van Polen has been with PEC Zwolle since 2007/08
Midfielder Mustafa Saymak has been with PEC Zwolle since 2011/12
Attacker Stef Nijland has been with PEC Zwolle since 2013/14
Bambi Ryan Thomas has been with PEC Zwolle since 2013/14
Keeper Diederik Boer joined Ajax after the cup winning season and returned to PEC Zwolle at the start of the 2017/18 season.
It's interesting, Van Ship was an underwhelming coach in the a league.
Thomas plays 90 mins as Zwolle win a Dutch Cup tie 3-2 over Kozakken Boys (Dutch 3rd tier side). Went to extra time.
This week PEC Zwolle feature in a prominent editorial in Voetbal International, a very popular nationwide Dutch weekly magazine.
I have translated a large chunk of the main feature of this week’s magazine for you. Please pardon any errors or basic lingo.
Part One
The contrast couldn’t have been sharper. Half a year ago, PEC Zwolle seem to be heading for promotion/relegation play-offs and now the Blauwvingers are third in the table behind powerhouse PSV and Ajax.
Saturday night 21 october 2017. Captain Bram van Polen is being interviewed in the mixed zone of NAC’s Rat Verlegh Stadium in Breda after PEC Zwolle’s 2-0 win at the expense of NAC. “At the moment I’m not focused on the virtual table and I won’t be following the exploits of Ajax and Feyenoord tomorrow. I’ll be celebrating my mother’s birthday in my brother’s pub and I won’t be glued tot he screen to follow the ‘Klassieker’ between Feyenoord and Ajax. Let’s be realistic. We’re only nine matches into this season”.
Nine games, eighteen points. The best start to any top flight season in the club’s history. Coach John van ’t Schip: "Whether I'm going to celebrate tonight? I’ll savor a glass of wine with my wife as I always do after a match. Perhaps it’ll taste better tonight… Of course we are happy, of course we are satisfied. But we have not achieved anything yet. I am especially concerned with the development of the team and I am satisfied with that."
Regardless of what seems an indifferent pose, the Blauwvingers are this season’s surprise pack of the domestic Eredivisie. Bram van Polen:”No matter how you look at it, the facts speak for themselves now. After a terrible season we now have collected more points than at Christmas last season. We were only 14th in the table after 9 corresponding matches in 2016”.
Part Two
Back to August 13, 2017, the start of the season. With 53 years old, John van ’t Schip is the oldest coach in the Eredivisie. Sun-tanned, trendy sneakers, clad in an immaculate club costume. The former Dutch international shakes hands with people who do not even know him by name. A year ago, he still lived in Australia.
Actually, the start to PEC Zwolle’s 2017/18 season was their winter training session in Spain, where Ron Jans announced his resignation. It signalled the beginning of a new era; a natural momentum to change the club’s course on and off the pitch according to technical director Gerard Nijkamp and chairman Adriaan Visser.
“It was time to re-assess our strategy after we lost territory following our Dutch Cup win, the Dutch Charity Shield and our short exploit in Europe in 2014. The departure of Ron Jans kick-started a new dawn’.
Chairman Adriaan Visser: “The 2016/17 campaign made us realise how vulnerable we were. We have a 13,000 capacity stadium that sells out for almost every home game and our budget is € 12mio. Relegation would have meant less income from gate receipts and season ticket holders and cutting down our budget to € 8mio. We needed to be more competitive by raising sponsor funds and in terms of player salaries by raising the cap to € 200,000 per annum”.
PEC Zwolle renewed their technical staff and welcomed new faces. Captain Bram van Polen: “There’s a new balance, now that we have parted with mercenaries. There were just too many insubordinating individuals who couldn’t care less when things didn’t go our way. It was like a vicious circle. There was lack of chemistry”.
Continuing: “In essence we are a small club and need a disciplinary approach. Precisely those things are important to a club like PEC Zwolle. We do not have top talent here. They are at Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV or abroad. We cannot afford ill-discipline. We are a team that need to work hard together".
Bram van Polen: “Of course there’s room for leisure and pleasure. We’re not the military you know. Now, this season, I sense cohesion. We even have a bridge club with eight players participating. There are smiles on faces. I sense a fresh new atmosphere”.
Part Three
A bridge club. So simple. If you have cameraderie off the pitch, you also have cameraderie on the pitch. Ron Jans had lost that magical touch that had propelled the club to unknown territory. John van ’t Schip rejuvenated and now touches the right buttons.
What has changed? Well, there’s this freshness of a new kid on the block. A new sound, a new vision. John van ’t Schip is an advocate of ball posession, three attacking midfielders and penetrating backs. He managed to polish his squad in a relatively short time.
PEC Zwolle started its first five matches with an unchanged basic eleven which is almost unprecedented in Dutch football this century. Youness Mokhtar: “Van ’t Schip isn’t tougher than Ron Jans. Although we enjoy a lot of free space, he is very demanding in complying strict rules”
What has also changed is the intensity during training sessions. They are longer and more frequent. Johnny van ’t Schip: “There’s a mentality problem in Dutch football. If you demand players to show up half hour before training begins, you meet resistance. That’s riduculous and embarrassing. What purpose does it serve? It creates team building. These are professionals, not amateurs”.
PEC Zwolle train harder and longer and the squad is fitter. The majority of losses under Ron Jans occured in the last quarter of the matches. Now they turn it around and win in dying minutes. John van ’t Schip also introduced structural power training and‘pilates power plate sessions’. Those sessions were facultative last season; now they are mandatory. Youness Mokthar on the new ‘craze’: “I feel more fit than last season. It makes me physically stronger and it makes me féél stronger. I call it improved core stablity”.
Part Four
In the archaic and ultra conservative football universe pilates plates are frowned upon. Regardless, the majority of the players are excelling this season. They create a lot of chances from open game, playing ‘fun football’. Youness Mokhtar is finding the net more easy.
Youness Mokhtar: “This new system suits us. Everyone knows exactly what is expected of him. Last year we got chased, now wé chase. Actually, it is very simple: we are more likely to get the ball and play possession. Last year we were basically a countering team. We had a lot of speed with Queensy Menig and the team was built around him. That really does not fit the way PEC wants to play anymore.”
You cannot mention PEC Zwolle without Ryan Thomas who is absolutely at the peak of his still young career. He’s thekey player in midfield. He’s statistics are simply impressive.
Ryan Thomas: “My timing has improved considerably. The trainer wants to see me as much as possible on the ball". I think that's my strength. What has changed? When I played on the wings, I wasn’t always part of the match. I am more concentrated, also because I have an important role in the conversion. I'm much more involved in the team. This is important for my own development. I'm a football player and a real footballer wants to have the ball as much as possible”.
Continuing: “When I came to The Netherlands they positioned me on the wings and not in the heart of play; effectively simulating an ‘integration process’.Playing it safe, bringing it slowly and step by step. A new country, a new language, a new culture. Adapting”.
“At the end of last season Ron Jans experimented with my new position as a controlling midfielder. I was used to that position in New Zealand. The new coach saw this in me and told months before the start of this season to concentrate on my new role. I am now enjoying the best spell in PEC Zwolle’s shirt”.
Continuing: “When I played on the far left or far right wing, I wasn’t involvedthe full ninety minutes. The coach now wants to see me in possession as much as I can. I feel this is my strength. Controlling and reading the game. I am now more concentrated than ever during 90 munites since I cannot afford to relax.”
I am much more involved now which is of paramount importance for me and my development as a player. And my statistics tell a significant story. I am one the best ‘balafpakkers’ in the Eredivisie.‘Bal afpakken’means reconquering/regaining the ball. Only Hakim Ziyech and Joël Veltman from Ajax beat me to it”.
The international from New Zealand is enjoying the best spell of his career. He feels very confident with the new style of play. Ryan Thomas: “Ha, if we go on like this we’re safe when Christmas comes. Of course we are bound to go through a less prosperous phase but we are now thoroughly enjoying our version of an Indian Summer”.
PEC Zwolle heeft aan flitsend eerste kwartier genoeg en blijft in het spoor van PSV
An emphatic first 15 minutes suffices for PEC Zwolle to stay on track behind PSV.
Tonight, PEC Zwolle kept their 100% home record against ADO from Den Haag by beating the team from the residency of the Dutch Parliament in front of a 13,030 sell-out crowd in the spiritual football capital of The Netherlands.
PEC Zwolle took an early lead bypinch-hitter Piotr Parzyszek only for Younes Namli to double the score from outside the box. Aaron Meijers from ADO Den Haag makes a dangerous play against Ryan Thomas was lucky in the 41st minute staying alive during Saturday Night’s Fever after an ugly challenge from ADO’s Aaron Meijer.
The Blauwvingers stay third on the table. Vitesse from Arnhem, currently in 4th place, will entertain top of the table PSV at home on Sunday.
PEC Zwolle are travelling to Vitesse on Sunday 5 november and are home to PSV from Eindhoven on Sunday 19 November.
Checking out the stats he's currently top of the chart for Duels won and 9th for Passing. I remember he looked a class above most in the Confederations Cup good to see it being replicated at club level.
Thanks a lot PECZWolle. Awesome read. The ability to come back in midfield and depossess the opposition player is a real strength of Thomas when playing for our national team.
You Kiwi & Haka Lot,
The low countries are going through their baddest spell ever on club level and international level in Europa for reasons I do not have the ambition for to unravel or stipulate in the context of this weekend conribution.
It’s so refreshing to see PEC Zwolle now going by their own frivolic flow on and off the field. It feels like they might be creating the country’s new benchmark of refreshing attacking appraoch, paired with sober realism and a limited budget. As Yellowsite so eloquently put it in his post above : ‘the ability to come back in midfield and depossess the opposition player is a real strength’. It is as if it’s contagious and Ryan Thomas has projected his capabilities on the entire squad.
Meanwhile, surprise-pack PEC Zwolle keep on making headlines in The Netherlands, this time in the sports section of the ‘Algemeen Dagblad’, a leading paper with nationwide coverage.
Here’s a loose transcript for you, mixed with my personal view and flavour:
Leicester City scenario in Zwolle? 'PEC Zwolle league champions? Oh please don’t be silly'…
Not a single soul at PEC Zwolle is thinking of a Leicester City scenario, the club being third in the table and this season’s domestic revelation, breaking club record after club record.
The ‘PEC Zwolle Fairytale’ conjures up visions of Leicester City stunning the English Premier League in 2016 with a limited budget. Are we having a megastunt in store in The Eredivisie?.
Captain Bram van Polen; “Christ, what a silly statement. Please give me a break. This is far from being realistic. Jesus, what are we even talking about? Typical hyperbolic media stuff. Just what the heck are we talking about?
The city’s mantra, its citizens being down to earth by nature is “doe maar gewoon, dan doe je al gek genoeg”, roughly translating as ''Just act normal, then you're acting crazy enough as it is''.
Oh the joy of digression.. In Zwolle, the supporters are enjoying every second of the still young season. With tongue-in-cheek and a deleicate sense of homor, a dedicated facebook page to invite supporters to join the champions’ celebration party on 29 April 2018 attracted nationwide media attention.
However, PEC Zwolle’s target for the 2017/18 season remains escaping relagation and a comfortable lower/mid-table position, regardless of their flying start. Down to earth…
Club president Adriaan Visser: “in the unlikely event we’ll amass another 16 points from our next 7 matches, we may have to re-assess our strategy and set another ambitious target during our winter break in Spain”
Revelation or not. PEC Zwolle’s trump card is and remains a healthy sense of realism, primarily having amassed their points against clubs from the lower half of the table. Captain Bram van Polen: “we will now be facing opposition from stronger opponents such as Vitesse this Sunday, PSV at home after international duties and bogey teams Heerenveen and Utrecht. They are a different calibre. We also shouldn’t forget we have had luck on our side in contrast with last season”.
PEC Zwolle are in a flow, fielding an eleven in the best tradition of ‘never change a winning team’. It is as if PEC Zwolle have been ready from the start of the season whereas other clubs are still struggling to find their own format and a format of neutralizing PEC Zwolle’s attacking antics. They are now a very well-respected force to be reckoned with.
PEC Zwolle are now a delicate blend of work horses the likes of Rick Dekker, Kingsley Ehizibue and Piotr Parzyszek , paired with ‘hors(e) categorie’ (pun intended) elegant Lippizaners such as Ryan Thomas, Youness Mokhtar and Younes Namli.Oh, the mixture of routiniers the likes of Diederik Boer, Dirk Marcellis and Bram van Polen, paired with the talent of young and eager Philippe Sandler.
PEC Zwolle’s progression is remarkable and has not being left unnoticed. Young Philip Sandler has been selected for Oranje U20, Kingsley Ehizibue knows assistant Oranje coach Ruud Gullit’s is targeting himand club topscorer Youness Mokthar, unfortunately out for this Sunday’s clash with Vitesse in Arnhem, might very well be on his way for his first Moroccan cap.
Bram van Polen: “we are so close as a group there’s no room for extenuating. The atmosphere on and off the field is cracking. Our team spirit is second to none. It’s what should bond us when we will endure a lesser spell”.
Tomorrow, Sunday 5 November 2017, PEC Zwolle are away to 4th placed Vitesse in Arnhem. Are they adding a new chapter to the fairytale stuff they are currently writing?
PEC Zwolle are looking frighteningly determined. Enjoying it tot he full extent and full of anticipation while I still can with the dreaded winter transfer window looming in the near future. Key players might as well be on their way elsewhere…
I know it’s Ryan’s ambition to trade PEC Zwolle for a bigger team or another league when the time comes…
Carpe Diem.
The cover reads: “Johnny & His Wonderboys”
Enjoy your weekend!
These updates are brilliant, thank you so much for this! Gotta love Bram van Polen’s media response, he gives no sharks
Played very well today against a strong Vitesse team. Thomas looking fit and sharp for the Peru game.
win / loss / draw?
win / loss / draw?
Nill all draw.
Yesterday, both Vitesse and PEC Zwolle scraped out a bleak stalemate during an uneventful affair in Arnhem, hardly entertaining a 18,439 crowd. I’m almost inclined to say the final whistle and theobligatory tea at halftime were the most exciting event during 90 minutes.
The headline ‘slaapverwekkende vertoning tussen PEC Zwolle en Vitesse eindigt in 0-0’ translates as ‘sopoforic display between PEC Zwolle and Vitesse results in 0-0’ speaks volumes.
Ryan Thomas couldn’t lift the game and will now travel the globe to secure a spot for New Zealand in the USSR. His 24hrs aviatic journey started on Sunday and will finish at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport after having covered 40,000 kilometers in the air.
As quoted in our local paper today: ‘The Peru match hasn’t been prominently on my radar since it would have effected focus on PEC Zwolle. I don’t want that. I’m now free to fully concentrate on my country.
Ryan Thomas will be covering 27,000 miles in the air between nowand his return to Zwolleto take on league leaders PSV on 18 November.
Ryan: “Of coure the Peru games are two giant affairs. If we win we’ll be going to the WC in Russia. I don’t think I have to elaborate on that”
‘We’ll be supported in Wellington by a 35,000 crowd. The match sold out in just a few hours”
“We haven’t met the stiffest op opposition during the qualifying stages. It’d be fair to say the PEC youngsters would have managed comfortable results against the likes of Fiji, Solomon Island and New-Caledonia. Those are teams with one fast centre forward you need to neutralize to be on top of the game.
We’ll be having two very exciting matches ahead of us against profiled Peruvian opposition!”
Would you consider the match against Vitess as a teaser for the play-offs?
Ryan Thomas with a boyish wink: “more like the starter of a six course dinner with Vitesse, Peru twice, PSV, Heerenveen and FC Utrecht. Although I have to admit the Peru diptych are the biggest matches in my career, together with the two Dutch FA Cup finals.
“Oh, how I would love to stage at the same level of the Messi’s and Ronaldo’s of this world”
“I’m not quite satisfied with my performances lately. I find myself to sloppy. It isn’t too bad but far from a level I wish to achieve and maintain”
PEC Zwolle are now joint-second in the table, pipped by Ajax on goal difference only. They kept the most clean sheets of all clubs in the Eredivisie.
Goalkeeper Diederik Boer broke a 40 year old club record with his own clean sheet of 396 minutes.
Verbazing over Nederlandse mentaliteit: 'Kinderen met Louis Vuittons van 400 euro'
Baffled by Dutch mentality: “Children carrying Louis
Vuittons worth € 400”
In our local paper today, losely translated:
PEC Zwolle midfielder Ryan Thomas is on the brink of a very important dyptech with Peru with a Russia-ticket at stake.
New-Zealand are clearly the underdog.Ryan Thomas: “whe it boils down to technique we cannot compete with Peru. South-Americans are renowned fort heir technical skills.
Nevertheless, the Kiwi hopes his country can make a difference in the area of mentality.
“We have a working-class mentality, allegedly because we are a small country with a relatively short history. We need a high working-rate to achieve something”.
“Almost every soul grows up in New-Zealand with the mantra and belief that regardless what you do you have to work hard to survive”.
Ryan Thoms says this ‘never say die'-mentality is a far cry from the spoiled nature of The Netherlands.
“Children in expensive designer clothing of hundreds of euro’s are no exception. They just get it from their parents without any ‘quid pro quo‘ or consideration.
Thomas earned his first pocket money with chores at the age of ten.
“Even when I needed a new pair of shoes on my birthday I was restricted to a modest budget, allowing me to buy a pair for € 50 at H&M. Here they parade with Louis Vuittons worth € 400. My parents would never have paid that, because it makes one easy-going and lazy”
WK-kandidaat Ryan Thomas: “Wij Nieuw-Zeelanders geven nooit op, nooit”.
WC-prospect Ryan Thomas: “Us new-Zealanders never
surrender, never”.
Once, young rascal Ryan Thomas would roam his neighbourhood in Te Puke on his small bike to find neighbours who would let him mown their lawns for a few dollars. Now, ten years later, the ‘working class mentality’ of PEC Zwolle’s instrumental player is badly needed to reach Russia at the expense of Peru.
Ryan, how have you been raised?
“ ‘You get what you put into it’ is what my parents used to say. One needs to earn things to appreciate things. My parents weren’t rich. If I wanted a Playstation I needed to make efforts to earn it by myself. It works like an incentive. At the time I would have earned $25, my parents would sometimes double to score from their own pocket. I learned to appreciate this concept since I was, 10, 11 years old. My parents taught me only the sun shines and the rain comes down free or charge”.
Ryan,
did you already work at that age?
“Yes, I’d raised some money for a bike and my granddad chipped in so I could buy a nicer one. I would make $10 or $15 depending on the duration of char.
Ryan, what kind of work did you do?
“Mowing lawns, clearin out garages, washing cars. Didn’t like washing cars though. It consumed a lot of time and effort and it brought me relatively little money”.
Ryan, what about the play-offs?
“It’s encouraging the Peruvians didn’t score in the first leg”. New-Zealand’s mantra is 'never say die'. We don’t give up. Never. A tough character is our strongest asset. It reflects our mentality on the pitch. We would never claim we’re dead or ‘it’s all over now’.We New-Zealanders simply exclude that ‘it can’t be done’.”
“My last coach in New-Zealand would not have had me leave New-Zealand and heading for Europe without reminding me if the merits of our ‘do or die mentality’. It’s a bonus in Europe and he knew that”.
“I’d still consider reaching Russia is still a "fifty-fifty" challenge”.
You’d love to take Ryan’s word for it. Not because he’s going through a very appetizing spell but because he oozes realism and self-criticism amidst a generation of complacency and spoiling.
This concludes another page from Kiwipedia, Cheers! Han.
A 93th minute last-gasp effort saw PSV snatching an undeserved victory in Zwolle during this weekend's top of the table clash. The Blauwvingers made for headlines the last week but were denied by a clinical site.
Ryan Thomas recovering and not as decisive as we know him. Solid performance though.
Ryan Thomas’ World Cup dream shattered.
One day after the Azzuri’s exit from the 2018 World Cup qualifying, the renowned Italian sports paper Gazzetta dello Sport also reservedheadlines for surprise pack PEC Zwolle.
PEC Zwolle, savior of the Eredivisie?
In Sunday night's Studio Voetbal, pundit Pierre van Hooydonck, coach John van't Schip and Ron Jans waxed lyrical about his ability to adept after having been in to air for 2000 lightyears.
Ryan Thomas clearing a Luuk de Jong challenge.
No words...
Can't find the story online, but at least one media source today suggesting Ryan Thomas is good enough to play for Real Madrid. I think the story was quoting a Dutch coach. Anyone know more about this story, or have a link?
Can't find the story online, but at least one media source today suggesting Ryan Thomas is good enough to play for Real Madrid. I think the story was quoting a Dutch coach. Anyone know more about this story, or have a link?
"He is one of the top players in the Eredivisie, in everything. He is now at the top and I would not be surprised if he landed at Real Madrid."
That's Ryan Thomas they're talking about. #AllWhites https://t.co/YdNlT1WLYQ— Jason Pine (@pineyzb) November 21, 2017
Can't find the story online, but at least one media source today suggesting Ryan Thomas is good enough to play for Real Madrid. I think the story was quoting a Dutch coach. Anyone know more about this story, or have a link?
"He is one of the top players in the Eredivisie, in everything. He is now at the top and I would not be surprised if he landed at Real Madrid."
That's Ryan Thomas they're talking about. #AllWhites https://t.co/YdNlT1WLYQ— Jason Pine (@pineyzb) November 21, 2017
Blimey. Sounds a bit OTT. Can only help Declan with selling the dream to kid's parents at Ole.
I think at this stage I'd take more notice of a quote from Dutch national team manager (whoever that is now) - saying he wishes he was available for the Netherlands.
Anyway great to see his career going to a new level. Nothing but deserved. He's certainly giving 100% for the AWs, with no fear.
Be interesting to hear from Mr Edge, whether he was his most talented student, or most driven. I expect the latter.
He's definitely one of the best players in the Eredivisie though.
This is such an exciting time for NZ football. We're watching the development of the guy who will be the greatest ever football player New Zealand has ever produced, no question about it. In the past, whenever we've had a player get signed by a club in a strong European league we've all been pleased and taken that; Nelsen at Blackburn/Spurs/QPR, Reid at West Ham, Wood at West Brom/Burnley. While these moves are all still huge for New Zealand players, these teams are always more in the bottom half of the league. With Thomas, we have a player who's future career has no cap, its cheesy but the sky genuinely is the limit for him. At the rate he's going he will go to a top team in a top league, something we've never really had (could've with Reid if he hadn't been so injury prone mind you). Real Madrid might be a stretch, but who knows. He can genuinely end up anywhere
You forget W Rufer, but yes otherwise you are right about Thomas.
As much as I want him to do well and think he is a good player, I think people are getting a tad too excited.
Sure he has talent and obvious drive,
but if he ended up playing in the premiership with a bottom half table team, that would do me.
As much as I want him to do well and think he is a good player, I think people are getting a tad too excited.
Sure he has talent and obvious drive,
but if he ended up playing in the premiership with a bottom half table team, that would do me.
As much as I want him to do well and think he is a good player, I think people are getting a tad too excited.
Sure he has talent and obvious drive,
but if he ended up playing in the premiership with a bottom half table team, that would do me.
I for one think moving to such a big club would be bad for his career, and given his choice to remain at Zwolle in recent years, I think he certainly knows this too.
Of course it'd be great if hestepped up to a mid-table Spanish, German, Italian or maybe even Premiership team - but he is still young and has time to develop. He needs to do so incrementally and he especially needs to be playing week in, week out.
Look what happened to Marco at Stuttgard (yes he was injured a lot, but realistically, his chances of being a regular were pretty low from the start).
EDIT: Me can't spell