Patrice Bernier in the Norwegian Cup

[François]

Patrice and Moss will face Stabæk at home in the 3rd round to be played in June.

[The pigfarmer]

Stabæk is a premier division club from the rich, western suburb Bærum, outside Oslo. Moss will clearly be the underdog in this meeting, and maybe this is good for the team. They will have to put their hearts into it, in a totally different way than in the 1.division games, if they shall have any hopes to win this one.

[Winnipeg Fury]

How are Friend and Bernier performing this season for Moss FK ?

Are they meeting expectations ?

[The pigfarmer]

Well, to start with Friend, I can tell you that he's one of two very similar types of forwards. Moss is playing in a 4-4-2 formation with Friend and Sakkariassen as forwards. They are both big and strong, and after the first few games of the season where the tactics were to play possesion oriented football, Moss is now playing more old-fashion English football with kick-and-run tactics. So far, Friend has been the better of the two forwards. He's often winning the head-balls, but for some reason he's also often fouled. My guess is that referees tend to blow their whistle in favour of the defending team, I honestly can't see that Rob is doing anything wrong.
All in all, Friend is a safe card for the starting line-up.

When it comes to Patrice Bernier, the story is a bit more complex. He has been used both as defensive and offensive midfield. In my opinion he is a better offensive player, than a defensive player. His game is not stabile. Not from game to game, and not within the same game. He can do some genious moves with the ball, and five minutes later he can cause huge panic amongst our own players. That's why I want to see him in an offensive role. Part of the problem for Bernier has to do with the style of football Moss play these days, with the earlier mentioned kick-and-run tactic. As a midfielder it has to be boring just to watch the ball fly high over your head, aiming for one of the two tall forwards. If the coach wants to use Patrice in a more offensive role, he has to move mid-defender Haraldsen up to defensive mid-field and make some other adjustments in order to get it right. They have done that for a game or two, only to go back to the previous system. But there is no doubt about Berniers potential. I believe that if the team as a whole can get their act together, Bernier will blossom.
When fit and ready, Bernier has no problems defending a place in the starting line-up.

[Winnipeg Fury]

....it's great to hear first hand how they are doing. I look forward to your game reports after each Moss match. Include as much as possible on each player (Friend & Bernier) and their performance of each Moss match.

Thank-You !

[François]

....it's great to hear first hand how they are doing. I look forward to your game reports after each Moss match. Include as much as possible on each player (Friend & Bernier) and their performance of each Moss match.

Thank-You !

Yes my friend, he's the coolest pigfarmer in the World and a great friend to all of us...