Thomas Gravesen

Thomas Gravesen (born March 11, 1976) is a Denmark professional football player who plays as a midfielder for Everton F.C. on loan from Celtic F.C..

Club career

Early career

Born in Vejle, Gravesen's career started in 1995 with hometown club Vejle Boldklub (VB) in the Danish Superliga, alongside a handful of youths making it through the VB youth scheme, including good friend Kaspar Dalgas. At VB, Thomas Gravesen played both as a sweeper and defensive midfielder, and after he won silver medals in the Danish Superliga 1996-97, Gravesen moved to Germany team Hamburger SV in 1997.

Hamburger

Gravesen made a total of 94 appearances and 6 goals in 3 years with Hamburger SV.

Everton

Following the Euro 2000 tournament, Gravesen went to England club Everton F.C. where he quickly became a favourite amongst the fans.

Gravesen played a key role in Everton's rise toward the top of the FA Premier League 2004-05 table, from his position as an attacking midfielder. With his contract due to expire in the summer of 2005, which would enable him to leave on a free transfer (soccer), Everton sold Gravesen to Real Madrid for a fee of £2.5 million on January 14, 2005.

The Real deal

At Real Madrid C.F., he looked to fill a hole in the defensive midfield, a position somewhat different from his time at Everton. However, Gravesen would eventually find himself benched. Following public outcry over his tough style of play and the sacking of Real coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo and sporting director Arrigo Sacchi, who were in charge of acquiring Gravesen, he looked ready to leave Real Madrid in the winter of 2005, especially since Manchester United from England showed interest. However, new coach Juan Ramón López Caro would revive Gravesen's career at Real, picking him regularly, using him in the holding role in the new 4-1-4-1 formation Real adopted. Towards the end of the season, Gravesen once again found himself out of the team, and in May 2006 a number of clubs were reported to be interested in him.

In August 2006, a scuffle erupted at a Real Madrid training session, following a hard tackle by Gravesen on teammate Robinho, who retaliated by hitting Gravesen. Fabio Capello, the recently appointed Real Madrid manager, said about Gravesen: "The way he is, we won't have problems with him. He's just a little bit particular. I don't mess with him, he works well tactically. His behaviour is like this, and I don't like it, everything has to be done like he wants it to be done". Gravesen looked likely to leave Real Madrid before the start of the La Liga season 2006/2007, with his agent John Sivebæk confirming that a number of clubs - including Newcastle United in England and Scotland club Celtic F.C. - were interested in signing the midfielder.

Celtic

On August 28, Gravesen attended Celtic Park in Glasgow for a medical examination and, on August 30, signed a three year deal (with the option of a fourth year) with the club, for a speculated fee of around £2m. There was a period of uncertainty as to whether Gravesen would sign for Celtic, after false rumours arose of a failed medical and of an eleventh-hour bid by Newcastle. On September 15 2006, Gravesen announced his decision to end his international career for the Danish national team. He had consistently been a part of the Danish team since the appointment of Morten Olsen in 2000, but decided now to focus his efforts solely on his new club Celtic.

He scored his first goal for Celtic against arch rivals Rangers F.C] on September 23 2006. He then went on to score the first hat-trick of his professional career, when Celtic won 3-1 against Paisley side St Mirren F.C] on November 12, 2006. After a promising start to his Celtic career, Gravesen was replaced in the Celtic starting line-up by Netherlands national football team midfielder Evander Sno. In April 2007, Celtic manager Gordon Strachan denied rumours that Gravesen would leave the club to play England club Sunderland AFC, but in May 2007 he declared his disappointment that Gravesen did not work harder to recapture his place in the starting line-up.

Gravesen did not feature in any of the starting line ups for competitive matches played by Celtic FC at the start of the 2007/08 season, and faced a tough task gaining a position in central midfield, with Paul Hartley, Scott Brown, Massimo Donati and Evander Sno all vying for the two central roles. Many put Gravesen's inability to hold down a starting berth at Parkhead due to the fact that he was asked to hold the midfield in a more disciplined defensive role, something he was never suited to in his Everton or Real Madrid days.

Gravesen signed for Everton F.C. on a season-long loan from Celtic on August 30 2007.

International career

For the Denmark national football team, Gravesen was cap (football) 66 times and scored five goals, from his debut in August 1998 until he ended his national team career in September 2006. He represented Denmark at the international 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2004 UEFA European Football Championship tournaments.

Gravesen debuted for the Danish national team in a 0-1 friendly match loss to the Czech Republic national football team on August 19 1998. Gravesen was selected to play for Denmark at the 2000 European Football Championship (Euro 2000) by coach Bo Johansson, despite concern from Johansson that he was not "psychologically stable" enough.

While at Everton, new Danish national team coach Morten Olsen fully supported Gravesen and made him one of his pivotal players in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2004 UEFA European Football Championship campaigns. His display in the 2002 World Cup qualifying game with Iceland national football team, where Gravesen scored two goals in a 6-0 win, was so impressive that United States boxer Mike Tyson asked for his shirt and wore it throughout his stay at Denmark. He played all four of Denmark's matches at the 2002 World Cup, though Gravesen and his partner in the Danish midfield duo, Stig Tøfting, justified their pit bull reputations when they ganged up to play a prank on teammate Jesper Grønkjær at a World Cup training session.

He missed the first group match at Euro 2004, as he was suspended due to a Misconduct (football) in the last qualifying match before the tournament but he played the remaining three games before Denmark were eliminated.

International goals

Honours

- Danish Superliga: Danish Superliga 1996-97 runner-up, with Vejle BK
- La Liga: Spanish First Division season 2004/2005 and Spanish First Division season 2005/2006 runner-up, with Real Madrid
- Scottish Premier League 2006-07 Championship with Celtic FC