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Verbeek always remained positive
Arjan Plantinga
Thursday 06 November 2008
Ahead of their second game in the
UEFA Cup group stages Gertjan Verbeek explained that
a positive outlook on things has kept him on his feet
in the hard months that seem behind him and the club.
Seem behind him, because one swallow
does not mean it's summer yet.
"When it's raining cats and
dogs you can think two things. Either you think: damn,
what terrible weather. Or you think: great, the air
is full of oxygen, let's get outside," he told
Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad.
Being positive is the only way
to get things done, he says: "We focused on the
things that did go right".
It resulted in some good performances
and on Sunday finally also a good result, with a 0-4
victory over Roda JC.
"That was of course a great
relief. After a good result you feel better, especially
after our poor start of the season. But it's too early
to tell whether this was the turn."
A victory over Spartak Moscow tonight
would be the first time this season that Feyenoord win
two games in a row.
But beating the Russians is not
evident.
The UEFA Cup winners of 2005 finished
second in the Russian league and in their first group
game they beat Deportivo La Coruña 3-0.
Feyenoord lost
with the same figures to Nancy.
"Moscow are the strongest
team in our group. They have a lot of individual quality,"
says captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Spartak are one of the new Russian
rich clubs, with one of Roman Abramovich' oil companies
Sibneft being the owner and main sponsor.
But Gertjan Verbeek thinks his
team stand a chance: "Wim Jansen and Alex Pastoor
have scouted them. They are a very strong side. They
defend with 11 players and attack with a maximum of
five. But the analyses also showed that there are weak
spots."
Feyenoord's sickbay is slowly emptying.
Denny Landzaat and Andwélé
Slory yesterday again trained with the squad and Theo
Lucius is fully recovered.
Only Ron Vlaar, Tim Vincken and
Serginho Greene are still out.
Presumable lineup:
Timmer; Tiendalli, Hofland, Bahia, De Cler; Wijnaldum,
Fer, El Ahmadi, Van Bronckhorst; Makaay , Biseswar.
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