Ryan Thomas and Mo Ihattaren were teammates at PSV back in the day - played 31 games together amidst their various injuries
Ihattaren was considered a bit of a wasted talent back then but he's bringing it around now that he's at Fortuna... RT pocketed him in this match though
RT: ,,Scoren is leuk, op je verjaardag is dat iets extra’s, maar ik had liever gewonnen. Als we drie punten pakten begonnen we gewoon veel lekkerder aan de tweede seizoenshelft.”#excpec#peczwollepic.twitter.com/Bt4XrqFFYD
Have a look here if you want to see a team blow a 2-0 lead and lose 4-2. PEC Zwolle started so well against Heerenveen, running through them like a hot knife in butter as they scored twice inside of 16 minutes. Ryan Thomas mostly hangs back and shields the defence these days but it was his crucial defensive touch that turned the ball over on halfway leading to the first goal so he still did his bit for that lead. Pity about the other 74 minutes.
Soft goals upon soft goals. Only last-placed Heracles have conceded more goals than Zwolle this season... but the Zwollers do have a helpful habit of being able to find relatively regular victories. Haven’t won consecutive games since the first two weeks of the season but they usually manage to peel one off every three or four games which is keeping them safe for now.
Ryan Thomas: “It doesn't make sense at all. I'm a bit done with it and so are the boys. We concede two goals just about every game and that needs to change. It's just maturity. You have to understand the match. If we're under pressure, we’ve got to find a station further forward and not play ourselves into trouble. If we make a small mistake, the opponent often immediately punishes it. It's too easy.”
New Zealand’s Ryan Thomas is the latest to join the growing list of injured All Whites ahead of the March international window.
The 23-cap midfielder will miss the Eredivisie match between his PEC Zwolle side and Utrecht on Monday (NZT) after playing on painkillers in recent matches.
“It’s not a strain, but it’s restricting him enough,” PEC Zwolle coach Henry van der Vegt told Dutch media.
“At some point, you’ll be taking a lot of risks, and we don’t want that.
“If he could have trained today, he would have been in the squad. There were too many ifs and buts, so we decided to keep him out. We want to keep him fit for longer.”
Van der Vegt said he hopes Thomas, who is the team captain, would be able to return for PEC Zwolle’s game against Ajax on Monday March 2, 2026 (NZT).
Niche Cache. Can see Thomas missing the March AWs matches.
Hopefully Zwolle find themselves safe from relegation with a few Eredivisie weeks spare, and he can rest his body before the World Cup.
After skipping last week’s game in order to rest up a niggling injury (that he’d played through with painkillers in the couple matches prior), Ryan Thomas returned for the calendar-circled match against Ajax... where he pulled up sore and was subbed after 56 minutes. Didn’t look too bad, more like a precautionary thing. He signalled to the bench as his team won an attacking corner then hit the deck to make sure of it after the ball was cleared.
He didn’t wait for the physio, getting back up and leaving the pitch under his own power once the game got stopped, handing the captain’s armband along on his way... he actually jogged off so that’s a good sign. Maybe should have sat out another week but the lure of Ajax was a bit much.
He’d been really good up until then too, offering his usual classy midfield work and even hitting the crossbar shortly before he got injured. Admittedly it was from a cross that he sliced... but still. That burst up the right wing might have even been what tweaked his hamstring, come to think of it (it was his hammy that he seemed to be motioning about although it wasn’t entirely clear). Also got a yellow card midway through the first half.
Zwolle played some really nice stuff in those initial 56 minutes and they didn’t lose their edge without their captain... although they never did find a goal. Nevertheless, a 0-0 draw against Ajax is always a good point. Keeps them six points clear of any relegation worries with nine matches remaining in the season.