The Original Ferrie

The Original Ferrie….

The day we signed Ferrie Bodde he was referred to as the "Dutch Roy Keane" which was maybe a little premature for a player joining a League One club. Plus probably not good news should he ever run into Alfe Inge Haaland but that’s a different story….

In all seriousness though Ferrie has been an instant hit at Swansea after three superb displays in the heart of midfield and a belief that finally we have found the ‘midfield general’ we have spent so long looking for. Roberto as well has been keen to sing the praises of his Dutch capture but it is comparisons with Roy Keane that Ferrie wants to tone down

“Of course it’s a compliment, Roy Keane was a top-class player,” he told thw Western Mail. “But I’m Ferrie Bodde and I have my own game.

“It’s nice that people have said I have a similar style to him and he is my type of player. I like to win and if I have to give someone a kick to do so, it doesn’t matter to me.”

Ferrie is enjoying his time in the English game after seven years with Den Haag – a club which of course has very close associations with the Swans.

“I think I’ve adjusted well and English football definitely suits my game,” he said. “The last two years I wanted to play here but I had a contract in Holland and I couldn’t come.

“But it was the right time for me to come here now and I enjoy the competition over here.

“It’s not easy, every game is hard work. Every week we play at a good level but we play with a different style to most teams.

“We want to play football but other sides prefer to play a long ball game. But I prefer our style because then the whole team plays football.”

“I haven’t had too many shots but that’s because when I’m on the ball I always look to feed the strikers,

I know sometimes I have to shoot more.

“But it’s what I’m used to in Holland. For seven years I played for the same team with the same tactic which was to look for the strikers and they had to score.

“Now I see in games that I have more time to shoot and I will have to think about doing it more often.

“In Holland it was always about positional play and waiting for the right moment. But here if you get the ball in midfield you either have people right on you or you have more time and space to dribble because they are expecting the long ball.

“That’s the difference but I like it here, it suits me.

“We have a very good team with good players, a good captain and fantastic guys like Joe Allen coming through

We have a promising future here and while it may be a bit early to talk about promotion, I feel that we can do it.

“The fans are fantastic here as well. A lot of them come to the Liberty but also when we go away. That is important to us because it means we never stand alone.”

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