Wednesday, November 04, 2020

The curious case of Anders Dreyer

I  have not watched the FC Midtjylland side that became Danish champions before (as I don't live in Denmark), and have therefore been curious to watch this ambitious club make its debut amidst the best in the world in the Champions League. I have thus watched all three matches of the Danish champions, and I have not been impressed: they opened with a rather naive 0-4 home loss to Atalanta. They then played a decent match in Liverpool, although losing 2-0, and last night they lost 1-2 at home to Ajax Amsterdam.

The Danes have been not only been incredibly naive about what they were to face in the Champions League, but also lacked 90-minutes concentration and physical skills in facing teams that one feels did not play their best (but it was enough to win rather easy victories). I had heard about some of FC Midtjylland's players, notably the young Anders Dreyer, who is touted as one of the great talents of Danish football, and whom many are calling for to join the Danish national team.

At least based on these three matches, I cannot see what the fuzz is about.

Granted; he scored a nice goal (FC Midtjylland's only in the CL) against a very passive Ajax defense. However, he has also missed some huge chances, in all three matches, that you simply cannot afford to miss at the highest level. But more than missed chances, I feel that he in all three matches has not had much impact in the build-up and has too many poor passes in the attack. Of course, I have also been largely unimpressed by other FC Midtjylland players, but Anders Dreyer to me seems to be the most overrated; he may be good enough for the Danish Superliga, but to me does not seem good enough for the Champions League nor for the Danish National team.

I hope I am wrong and wish him and FC Midtjylland the best of luck for their last three matches in the CL. They will need it.  

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