Jonbluefox9 Posted 28 May 2005 Posted 28 May 2005 Mark de Vries starts training early. Mark de Vries makes an early return to training on Monday, vowing to put a "frustrating" first season with Leicester City behind him.The City squad are not due to report back for pre-season work until July 1, but de Vries has revealed he will return to Belvoir Drive next week. The 29-year-old says he needs extra time to work on his fitness after suffering with problems, including a niggling groin injury, last season. As he returns to the training ground just three weeks after the end of the Championship season, de Vries says it will give him extra sharpness when the full training programme resumes. "My training starts on Monday," said de Vries. "I have had a couple of weeks off and muscle tests have shown that I wasn't as strong as I would have wanted. "The training is preparing me for the pre-season and to make sure I go into it feeling fit. "Last season was a hard one for me because I had lots of injuries. I think the hardest part is to get back because it takes a lot of energy out of you. "Luckily, I haven't suffered anything serious, but any type of injury keeps you out for a few weeks and lowers your general fitness." Craig Levein eased de Vries into the City team with a series of substitute appearances following his move south from Hearts. But, by his own admission, de Vries has struggled since the January switch, with his form affected by the injuries. He said: "Sometimes you shouldn't play but, as a professional, the trouble is you want to. "I won't take a step back, and that's probably been the problem." He hopes that the time on the training ground will be rewarded in the new season with the kind of performances that made his name in Scotland. "I now know what to expect in this league and I am going to make sure I am prepared for it. The league here is quicker than in Scotland. You don't just have to adapt to the game, but also to the way your team-mates play. "I am the first one to know I haven't been in form. "Every striker has periods of drought, if that's what you want to call it, and this was probably my season. It's been frustrating for me as well." But de Vries still has no regrets about joining City. In fact, he is more determined than ever to help them back into the Premiership. "I signed a three-and-a-half-year contract and I want to play for this club, a club that wants to go up and play in the best league," he said. "If you don't want that, you shouldn't sign for Leicester City." It's good to see that he wants to improve next season and he's giving himself the best chance possible by starting a month before the rest of the lads. Let's hope it pays off from himself and us.
Hazza Posted 28 May 2005 Posted 28 May 2005 Very good to see, he deserves credit for that. Hopefully he'll turn it around but i'll still support him as long as he's at the club and in the team.
Newcastle_Fox Posted 28 May 2005 Posted 28 May 2005 Good lad, deserves credit for that he could be on holiday now and relaxing for the summer but he is going into training early.I hope he has a good pre season and gets himself sharp for next season. Hope we can see the real Mark De Vries!
Shum Posted 28 May 2005 Posted 28 May 2005 Just hope the hard work pays off in the games. Fair play to him though
filbertway Posted 28 May 2005 Posted 28 May 2005 Its great to see that he will be working hard to get fit and i hope his hard work pays off next season. Its also good that he can actually admit it was poor form he was showing, so he obviously can do alot better and hopefully he will. Good to see your working hard de vries.
Ricey Posted 28 May 2005 Posted 28 May 2005 Great credit to him, he's admitted he played poorly last season and is proving his determination to improve.
Solihullfox Posted 28 May 2005 Posted 28 May 2005 Perhaps all of the football brains on this forum will now actually get off his back and support his efforts to get fit WHICH HE WASN'T last season when they all slagged him off - good on you Mark and nice to see some commitment to improve .
Durnerz Posted 28 May 2005 Posted 28 May 2005 Well it paid off for Zola in his last season at Chelsea so I hope it does the same for De Vries, Good attitude!
Anish Posted 28 May 2005 Posted 28 May 2005 Perhaps all of the football brains on this forum will now actually get off his back and support his efforts to get fit WHICH HE WASN'T last season when they all slagged him off - good on you Mark and nice to see some commitment to improve . 116732[/snapback] I slagged him off for his woeful performances, I'll admit to that. But if you're not fully fit for a prolonged period of time (as MDV was) you shouldn't be playing every week. He wasn't doing himself justice, he was hindering the team, and it didn't help him build up rapport with the fans. None of us know how fit MDV actually was during that spell - if anybody starts for LCFC for a number of consecutive games like De Vries did I expect them to be fully fit. And his performances did warrant criticism. Nevertheless, I am impressed by his attitude and honesty. He has shown a lot of professionalism by starting training early so respect to him. I hope it does pay off and he shows us how good he actually is.
C-man Posted 28 May 2005 Posted 28 May 2005 Good luck to MDV. He was poor last season, and i'll give him credit for admitting that. I'm also pleased for him that he's shown great commitment and attitude to go back to pre-season training earlier to improve. Well done to him
stez Posted 28 May 2005 Posted 28 May 2005 i may see him doing some ups and downs on the beach at skeggs next week then? if he's still struggling early doors, though, i won't be getting on his back
Louise Posted 28 May 2005 Posted 28 May 2005 We're always hearing that he's a good bloke and this proves it further. I have always been willing to give MDV the summer to get fitter etc and its great to see he's really dedicated (unlike some recent players who would just sit back on their long contracts never playing...Matt Jones I'm looking at you).
MON Posted 29 May 2005 Posted 29 May 2005 We're always hearing that he's a good bloke and this proves it further. I have always been willing to give MDV the summer to get fitter etc and its great to see he's really dedicated (unlike some recent players who would just sit back on their long contracts never playing...Matt Jones I'm looking at you). 116870[/snapback] Jones? He had another year on his contract and could have waited till that finished, but he retired. Good on him. He spared us money. And well done MDV, it shows you actually care about the way you are playing. I'm going to get fully behind him, lets hope you do to.
Cobbo Posted 29 May 2005 Posted 29 May 2005 We're always hearing that he's a good bloke and this proves it further. I have always been willing to give MDV the summer to get fitter etc and its great to see he's really dedicated (unlike some recent players who would just sit back on their long contracts never playing...Matt Jones I'm looking at you). 116870[/snapback] Jones? He had another year on his contract and could have waited till that finished, but he retired. Good on him. He spared us money. And well done MDV, it shows you actually care about the way you are playing. I'm going to get fully behind him, lets hope you do to. 116943[/snapback] He was injured for the whole time he was here! Which is what I think Louise was getting at.
shen Posted 29 May 2005 Posted 29 May 2005 We're always hearing that he's a good bloke and this proves it further. I have always been willing to give MDV the summer to get fitter etc and its great to see he's really dedicated (unlike some recent players who would just sit back on their long contracts never playing...Matt Jones I'm looking at you). 116870[/snapback] Jones? He had another year on his contract and could have waited till that finished, but he retired. Good on him. He spared us money. And well done MDV, it shows you actually care about the way you are playing. I'm going to get fully behind him, lets hope you do to. 116943[/snapback] He was injured for the whole time he was here! Which is what I think Louise was getting at. 116946[/snapback] Well I'm pretty sure that he didn't want all those horrific injuries he had while he was here. You have to say he was very unlucky... If Wilcox cared for clubs, he would've retired long ago as well...
Vo Rogue Posted 29 May 2005 Posted 29 May 2005 We're always hearing that he's a good bloke and this proves it further. I have always been willing to give MDV the summer to get fitter etc and its great to see he's really dedicated (unlike some recent players who would just sit back on their long contracts never playing...Matt Jones I'm looking at you). 116870[/snapback] Jones? He had another year on his contract and could have waited till that finished, but he retired. Good on him. He spared us money. And well done MDV, it shows you actually care about the way you are playing. I'm going to get fully behind him, lets hope you do to. 116943[/snapback] He was injured for the whole time he was here! Which is what I think Louise was getting at. 116946[/snapback] Well I'm pretty sure that he didn't want all those horrific injuries he had while he was here. You have to say he was very unlucky... If Wilcox cared for clubs, he would've retired long ago as well... 116962[/snapback] Jones suffered a serious injury.MDV has at least been able to take the field(and so far not shown much).Good on him for getting into training early.He needs to.
Louise Posted 29 May 2005 Posted 29 May 2005 Jones? He had another year on his contract and could have waited till that finished, but he retired. Good on him. He spared us money. 116943[/snapback] He didn't save us money though, he waited until the last year of his contract to retire because he knew we'd still have to pay it up under FA rules. We've still been paying him this year.
Vo Rogue Posted 29 May 2005 Posted 29 May 2005 Jones? He had another year on his contract and could have waited till that finished, but he retired. Good on him. He spared us money. 116943[/snapback] He didn't save us money though, he waited until the last year of his contract to retire because he knew we'd still have to pay it up under FA rules. We've still been paying him this year. 116976[/snapback] We knew Jones was good just bad luck with injuries.At least MDV has an excuse so far.He has to show it on the pitch from now on.
MON Posted 29 May 2005 Posted 29 May 2005 Jones? He had another year on his contract and could have waited till that finished, but he retired. Good on him. He spared us money. 116943[/snapback] He didn't save us money though, he waited until the last year of his contract to retire because he knew we'd still have to pay it up under FA rules. We've still been paying him this year. 116976[/snapback] Really? I didn't know that. So does he count on the wage-bill?
Jonbluefox9 Posted 29 May 2005 Author Posted 29 May 2005 Matt Jones used to be at the training ground almost everyday getting rehabilitation. We used to go and watch the academy home games on Saturday morning's when the first team were either away or not playing at the weekend. We'd get there at about 11 in the morning and his car would already be there and sometimes we wouldn't leave until gone 3 and his car would still be there. He tried his best to get fully fit and it was when he was on trial with the trees that he picked up his back injury in a freak accident. That's what finished him off. I feel sorry for him because he had to stop playing the game he loves at such a young age and that's all he'd wanted to do and I feel doubly sorry that he now has to work with Sinclair, Eggerton and Barber.
willy37 Posted 29 May 2005 Posted 29 May 2005 if the other players show the determination de vries has we can have a good squad. he obviously isnt the most technical of players, but if he gets his fitness up and addapts to the english way of playin he could be a decent player! he certainly can be useful and worry defences if he uses his height and *build* in the right way!
dan_84 Posted 29 May 2005 Posted 29 May 2005 well he has had a break since January so its no big deal him starting trianing early
Flemmish Posted 30 May 2005 Posted 30 May 2005 Is it me, but who would be going in with de Vries to get into the training ground and also who would coach him, surely not himself
Fez of Mahrez Posted 30 May 2005 Posted 30 May 2005 if the other players show the determination de vries has we can have a good squad. he obviously isnt the most technical of players, but if he gets his fitness up and addapts to the english way of playin he could be a decent player! he certainly can be useful and worry defences if he uses his height and *build* in the right way! 117142[/snapback] I think this is the major problem we have with de Vries, in that he may look like a big bulky striker but his game is actually technically quite good while he doesn't seem to be that good at heading or using his strength. He's possibly one of the best players at the club technically but everyone expects him to be Brian Deane.
kenny Posted 30 May 2005 Posted 30 May 2005 if the other players show the determination de vries has we can have a good squad. he obviously isnt the most technical of players, but if he gets his fitness up and addapts to the english way of playin he could be a decent player! he certainly can be useful and worry defences if he uses his height and *build* in the right way! 117142[/snapback] I think this is the major problem we have with de Vries, in that he may look like a big bulky striker but his game is actually technically quite good while he doesn't seem to be that good at heading or using his strength. He's possibly one of the best players at the club technically but everyone expects him to be Brian Deane. 117236[/snapback] Thats deffo the issue, i think we may move away from wingers as currently a traditional crossing game does not suit our strike force at all. 5-3-2 has to be the way forward.
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