Hotseat 12: The Skipper

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Barbara left nothing for anyone to ask So.......what color underwear do you have on?

Seriously, favorite color?

Country you'd like to visit on vacation?

Country you'd like to live in? Why?

Favorite video game?

Games on PC, xbox or PS?

General political views? (You seemed interested in the debate in the politics thread)

How long would you like to live?

Favorite book?

Popular science? Novels? Poetry?

What phone do you have?

One superpower to have for a day?

[Jype 6,398]

I think I remember sometime seeing you say you're in the UK to study. If that's the case, then what are you studying?

[Viper22 2,418]

What's awesome about Holland?

What sucks about Holland?

In your lifetime best dutch/chelsea best XI. As in combined dutch internationals or chelsea players.

Most underrated player at Chelsea?

Will MVG ever become a Chelsea great?

Best young dutch player out there?

[The Skipper 20,593]

are you an ass-man?

110%.

[stroey 2,525]

What's your favorite club in Holland? Mine is Feyenoord.

[BleedsBlue 1,549]

Can you play in the pivot?

[The Skipper 20,593]

Skips, tell us about yourself. What other sports do you like aside from football? What was your favourite subject in high school?

I really love basketball so I avidly follow the NBA as well. Got an affinity towards American Football too, but don't follow the NFL as much - however I do play as a wide receiver for my university (AF in UK, weird I know right? It's huge here though ).

My favourite subject at high school were IT and Maths and Art (even though I never really took that seriously), and they still probably are my favourite academic subjects to this day.

Favourite song genre?

Why did you move from Holland?

Where else have you lived?

What's your opinion regarding the liberal view emanated from your country (marijuana, euthanasia, women equality - I've heard The Netherlands are one of the top countries in that aspect). I wish Brazil was more like that but unfortunately we're still a very religious and conservative country. I'm a big admirer of the Dutch people.

Favourite song genres would be hip hop, R&B, gospel, afro beats and deep house (weird mix I know ). Also like to throw in some jazz and mo-town music in there now and then as well.

I was always in and out of the UK (specifically London) from a young age because my uncle lives there - he's a massive CFC fan, I guess I could accredit my affinity to CFC with him. My mother got a very good job offer so she decided we should move to England, and I've been here for the last 10 years or so now.

My opinion on the relaxed culture in NL? I love it, it's deeply rooted into me. If you ever met me you'd notice that I'm a very chilled out person, and I can attribute that to the general culture in Holland. Everyone is just very easy going and I truly love that aspect of the Dutch and myself. Marijuana (not everyone in Holland smokes btw haha - it really varies on the city or town you're located in), women rights and euthanasia are just extensions of the laid back and easy going culture in NL - I wholeheartedly agree with every stance we as a country have on each, and it's part of the reason I just love my country and think it's one of the best countries to live in in Europe (no bias ). I also really love the cycling culture - in NL a lot of roads also have bicycle roads so you can literally bike to any place you wish. Also the Kapsalon, a certain type of shwarma... It's amazing, probably my favourite type of food... Typing this actually makes me miss NL a bit, haven't been in about a year

[The Skipper 20,593]

oh, one of my fave people here

So many things I want to know about Thomas!!!!!

I'll ask some things now, but I'll come with a long list later the week.

1) what do you do in England?

2) Does your family still live in Holland?

3) How old are you again? I forgot

4) How can you be so cool? What's the secret?

5) You have an amazing understanding of the sport. Do you think that's because you're Dutch and people there really have a good understanding of it (I know French understand the sport wonderfully, better than most) or you just that special?

6) Some short-term life goals you'd like to share?

7) Can we be friends (typical girl question when they find the most amazing girl or guy, it's not a literal question, just in case)?

8) Can I have your autograph?

9) Are there other teams but Ajax and Chelsea that you support? if memory doesn't fail me you do support Ajax, hope I didn't get it wrong

10) Tell us one of your dreams

11) What do you like about living in England? I was going to ask why you moved there, but Dion beat me

12) What do you miss the most about Holland?

13) Do you still visit Holland? How often a year?

14) What you aspire to be professionally?

15) Tell us a secret

16) Do you have tattoos? If so, share it! If not, would you like to have them?

17) Share a bit of your feelings and reasons behind you AMAZING signature?

18) Do you think Holland has a chance winning Euro next year?

19) Is there anything about Chelsea you'd like to discuss here but you haven't yet because people haven't talked about it?

20) What are your expectations for this season? What you'd like to see and what you expect to see in terms of football, not titles.

21) can I really come later with the long list of questions?

22) Can we be best friends already?

Haha woah Barbs! A lot of Q's there.

1) I'm currently studying here at the University of Birmingham doing Business Management and Computer Science. My university is actually top 5 in the UK for this course so whilst it is challenging I do really enjoy it.

2) Yes, my dad and older sister do actually. A lot of my cousins and uncles and aunties still do to so I'm always over there even though I haven't been around for about a year.

3) I actually just turned 21 a week or so ago.

4) Haha I'm actually not that cool, at least I don't see myself as it. I guess it's just natural

5) I think in Holland people naturally have a great understanding and appreciation of the beautiful game because football is literally a massive part of life for almost everyone from a very young age, just like it is in Brazil and England, but we're taught football in a different way to the English, Brazilians etc... We're all very much rooted in the technical, systematic approach of totaal voetbal (which I think is the best footballing style, again no bias ) just like Brazil have their samba style and in England it's more about direct physical football... And honestly from totaal voetbal there is a lot to learn, it's an amazing style of football. I wouldn't say everyone in NL has the same footballing knowledge or passion as myself because I do read a lot of books on the history of football and formations, and I guess I do just have a natural knack for football in general... Just in love with football in general

6) I don't really like to share my goals out in public, keep them very close to my heart. But a few I can share is just the simple ones i.e. graduating from university soon.

7) Haha, I'm honoured Barbs. Of course we can be friends, aren't we already?

8) Haha again, honoured, but sure, just PM your address and we'll take it from there

9) Your memory serves you correct, still a massive Ajax fanboy, but apart from CFC and Ajax I don't have an affinity towards other teams. I do watch a lot of other leagues though when time permits i.e. The Bundesliga and La Liga.

10) again, I keep my dreams close to my heart but one I can share is that I'd like to buy and build my mother a massive house in the motherland (Ghana).

11) Yeah, I believe I answered that above when responding to Dion!

12) I believe I answered some of it above in response to Dion, but in general - I miss just the easygoing lifestyle and obviously my family and stuff there. Love Holland.

13) I haven't been in around a year but I usually go 2 or 3 times a year to see my family. Just too busy these days (especially this summer).

14) I aspire to be a lot of things, but if I had to come up with a general term for it it'd probably be an entrepreneur.

15) Ah again with these deep questions B , I don't really have any interesting secrets to share unfortunately!

16) I don't have tattoos and don't want any either, just never been a fan of them and I prefer my body to be clean.

17) It's actually a phrase from one of the very, very few celebs I look up to - Pharrell Williams. I just love his general outlook on life and the way he carries himself. Very positive guy who I've had the privilege of meeting before. The phrase encapsulates me as a person very well.

18) I think we won't win it but I do think we'll make a deep run. The main aim I think for Euro 2016 is for some of the younger talents like Depay and Wijnaldum to take over from the likes of Robben, Sneijder and RVP. It's still a transition, but we've got an excellent manager in Hiddink to facilitate that.

19) Hmm... No not really, this forum covers almost everything tbh. That's why I love TC.

20) This won't be as in depth because I don't have a lot of time but my expectations for this season, footballing wise? I expect us to finally look comfortable against the smaller teams, and the game against Burnley embodied that perfectly already. I think once we have Luis fully integrated into the team, we'll see Hazard flourish even more because he'll have even more options and more triangles will be created between him, Fabregas, Oscar/Willian and Luis. I think Hazard has all the tools this season to be phenomenal - whether he achieves that is up to him and his mentality. I like how he's already started the season with a more direct approach however.

I'm delighted however that Mourinho saw what some of us saw from last season - that we needed more than a striker to fully become a complete side. The Fabregas signing is absolutely vital, and I've said before that IMO he's the signing of the summer because he adds a whole new level to our play. We haven't had someone that dictates the game from deep like him in a very, very long time. He'll also add goals from deep, and our general play is already transforming to a more expansive one just because of this one man. He's a massive upgrade on our deep ball distributor from last season (Lampa). The future looks bright, I hope and think the football will get even better, especially at home - if we keep this up alongside our results against the bigger teams from last season we should walk the league.

21) Sure, I enjoyed answering these!

22) I told you already Barbs, we're already friends!

[The Skipper 20,593]

Have you been to a Jamaican restaurant before?

Are you happy in the UK or will you move back to the Netherlands some time?

Yeah, love Caribbean food, it's one of the best out there.

The UK is not bad but I'd say I'm more at home in the NL, but then again I can see myself globe trotting a bit before settling down somewhere. No idea where though as it stands.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Barbara and Dion have left not much for the rest of us to ask.

Anyway, who's your favourite footballer of all time and who do you consider the best of all time?

Why do you think Holland have never won the WC inspite of doing so well almost everytime?

What's your favourite holiday destination and why?

Eminem or Tupac?

Orange or Blue?

Btw, you do have a cool sig.

Favourite footballer of all time? A very hard question but one player I really loved was Dennis Bergkamp. Guy was an unreal player, his touch and technical abilities were just outstanding.

I honestly think we're the most unlucky NT in the history of football, because we have had outstanding teams in the past, the Cruijf era, Gullit era, 1998 WC... Even the 2006 team was very talented. 2010 as well... The only thing I can use to explain it is a lack of luck, which you really need in football at times.

Favourite holiday spots has to be any Caribbean country, and Africa (Ghana to be more specific). Love the vibrancy and laid back culture of those places.

Eminem is an outstanding rapper but Tupac for me, simply because Pac inspires a lot of people.

Orange or blue? Erm... I love de Nederlandse elftal but I'm much more of a CFC fan. So blue I guess.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Whoaa, Skip is popular! Ever been to the USA?

Yeah, numerous of times, I've got family in Boston so I've been there and NY about 5 times.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Barbara left nothing for anyone to ask So.......what color underwear do you have on?

Seriously, favorite color?

Country you'd like to visit on vacation?

Country you'd like to live in? Why?

Favorite video game?

Games on PC, xbox or PS?

General political views? (You seemed interested in the debate in the politics thread)

How long would you like to live?

Favorite book?

Popular science? Novels? Poetry?

What phone do you have?

One superpower to have for a day?

Haha, PM if you really want to know Choo Choo .

Favourite colour? I'm a monotone guy, love simplicity, so black.

Country I'd like to visit? I'd love to go to South America one day, maybe one of our Brazilian friends can help me with that?

Country I'd like to live in? Not so sure, still got a lot of globe trotting left to do... I'll let you know once I've decided though .

My favourite video game has to be Super Smash Bros. on the N64, closely followed by the early Pokemon games and Mario N64. To be honest, there were a lot of brilliant games on the N64 like Zelda, Metroid Prime, Goldfinger... N64 has to be my favourite console of all time. Those are all classics. Modern games I'd say Uncharted, The Last of Us, Dragon Age and Mass Effect amongst a few. As you can guess by the first two of those I'm a PS guy.

General political views? This could be long but to summarise I'm a lefty with a hint of right here and there.

I'd like to live long enough to see my grandchildren at a modest age (like 20) I guess.

My favourite book series have to be A Song of Ice and Fire (GOT) and the Harry Potter books. Love my non fiction stuff but also really enjoy fiction, specifically autobiographies. I loved Steve Jobs' autobiography,

I've got an iPhone 5... Patiently waiting for the 6 .

One superpower for the day? Probably some sort of telekinesis power where I can read people's minds or maybe manipulating some? (I'm bad I know ).

[The Skipper 20,593]

I think I remember sometime seeing you say you're in the UK to study. If that's the case, then what are you studying?

Currently at the University of Birmingham studying Computer Science with Business Management.

[We Hate Scouse 10,260]

What do you make of Birmingham as a place? I hate it

[The Skipper 20,593]

What's awesome about Holland?

What sucks about Holland?

In your lifetime best dutch/chelsea best XI. As in combined dutch internationals or chelsea players.

Most underrated player at Chelsea?

Will MVG ever become a Chelsea great?

Best young dutch player out there?

Everything is awesome about Holland. Nothing sucks. It's the best country in the world (no bias) .

Regarding the XI... Very interesting question. My XI won't necessary include the best players but it will include my favourites I guess.

Van Der Sar

JT - F. De Boer - Carvalho

Cruijf - Ballack - Gullit - Lampard - Zola

Bergkamp - Drogba

Most underrated currently? I'd say it's between Ivanovic and Mikel. Both aren't as appreciated as they should be. Mikel really isn't as bad as some make it seem on here.

MVG has great potential but there are a lot of unknown variables in football for anyone to ever say he's 100% going to be a Chelsea great. A lot of things have to go right for him for that to happen.

Best young Dutch player out there has to be my boy Memphis Depay. He's a huge talent and I can see him becoming a top, top player.

[The Skipper 20,593]

What's your favorite club in Holland? Mine is Feyenoord.

Ajax, dus wij kannen niet vrienden zijn.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Haha, PM if you really want to know Choo Choo .

Favourite colour? I'm a monotone guy, love simplicity, so black.

Country I'd like to visit? I'd love to go to South America one day, maybe one of our Brazilian friends can help me with that?

Country I'd like to live in? Not so sure, still got a lot of globe trotting left to do... I'll let you know once I've decided though .

My favourite video game has to be Super Smash Bros. on the N64, closely followed by the early Pokemon games and Mario N64. To be honest, there were a lot of brilliant games on the N64 like Zelda, Metroid Prime, Goldfinger... N64 has to be my favourite console of all time. Those are all classics. Modern games I'd say Uncharted, The Last of Us, Dragon Age and Mass Effect amongst a few. As you can guess by the first two of those I'm a PS guy.

General political views? This could be long but to summarise I'm a lefty with a hint of right here and there.

I'd like to live long enough to see my grandchildren at a modest age (like 20) I guess.

My favourite book series have to be A Song of Ice and Fire (GOT) and the Harry Potter books. Love my non fiction stuff but also really enjoy fiction, specifically autobiographies. I loved Steve Jobs' autobiography,

I've got an iPhone 5... Patiently waiting for the 6 .

One superpower for the day? Probably some sort of telekinesis power where I can read people's minds or maybe manipulating some? (I'm bad I know ).

Nice. We have quite a lot of things in there in common....So, will you marry me?

Btw, first time I've met someone who's a Dragon Age fan like me (RPG is not popular in Lebanon for some reason). Planing on getting Inquisition? It's out in a couple months and I can't wait even though DA2 a bit sub par, but the vids and screenshots I've seen of Inquisition are very promising.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Can you play in the pivot?

Maybe?