There is a little more action than usual to report on this week, but not much of note that actually happened. All around it was sort of a business as usual week for the Chelsea loanees. The report will be getting shorter very soon, as several of our players are nearing their winter breaks over on the main continent with several more either within weeks of the end of their loan or expecting to be recalled.
- Matej Delac - Delac was again the backup keeper for the match, but to date he has not been called into action. The Chelsea staff will likely be reuniting with Delac for 6 weeks or so, as the Czech League has now reached it's winter break and will resume in the middle of February. I'm so glad the Premier League doesn't have 2 months off in the middle of the season...
- Sam Walker - Walker and Northampton seemed to make good use of the two week break they had with the new coaching staff. The 1-1 draw they managed was the best result they have had in quite a while, and Walker was solid in the net throughout. His contract comes up in June, so it will be interesting to see how his situation is resolved.
- Thibaut Courtois - Courtois returned from a one game suspension to have a bit of a rough one this Sunday. Espanyol got to him early and fairly often, running out to a 3-0 lead in the opening minutes en route to a 4-2 victory. While his defense was bordering on abysmal, Courtois certainly didn't do himself any favors on the first goal either. This one was easily his worst performance of the season, which really does say good things about his work overall.
Jeffrey Bruma - There was some doubt about Bruma's fitness before the match, but he took a pain killing injection to get himself on the pitch and play through his shoulder injury. The HSV defense again impressed with another clean sheet in the 0-0 draw. That's now 10 unbeaten for HSV, and only 1 loss on the club's record since the coaching change and Bruma's insertion into the starting lineup.
Tomas Kalas - Like Bruma, Kalas was a solid contributor to his club's 0-0 draw. Vitesse now has the third best defensive record in the Eredivisie and sit squarely in contention for a European place at the end of the season. With the assumption being that we are going to continue our relationship with Vitesse, I'm really pulling for them to climb up into the top four and avoid the playoff for the final Europa spot.
Ulises Davila - Davila was not in the 18 man squad for the weekend, and Jong Vitesse has not had a game since the last roundup.
Patrick van Aanholt - I'm pretty certain van Aanholt no longer really exists as he was again MIA for Wigan over the weekend. Wigan did mange to win their match, but I'm still irritated enough by the way they are (not) using PvA that I'd no longer be upset at all to see them relegated. Come home soon Patrick...
Gael Kakuta - Kakuta actually got 20 minutes on the pitch this weekend as Bolton lost their 4th straight. He looked pretty good on the ball and created some dangerous situations, but the end product certainly was lacking. His build up passing was pretty solid, completing 71% of his attempts, but when he tried to play one into the box they were easily taken away. His only shot was well off target as well. Chances are going to be hard to come by for Gael if he's only getting looks late in games that Bolton trail, so it would be noce to see an actual start before he returns to Cobham on the 1st.
Conor Clifford - Clifford was again starting in the holding role, playing 65 minutes before being subbed out for an attacker (who subsequently scored a late winner in the 1-0 victory). As usual, he did his job very well and has impressed as one of Yeovil's better players in his time there. I'd be surprised if Clifford doesn't see this loan extended to a full season deal very soon.
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