Virgil Van Dijk

[the wes 7,212]

According to The Sun, Nathan Ake could head to Southampton in a part-exchange deal for centre back Virgil van Dijk

[Unionjack 7,531]

5 hours ago, the wes said:

According to The Sun, Nathan Ake could head to Southampton in a part-exchange deal for centre back Virgil van Dijk

Will be a toughie I think

The Sun:

Bournemouth have seen a bid rejected for Ake after a successful loan spell at Dean Court earlier this season.

That leaves the door open for Southampton to target him if fellow Dutchman Van Dijk makes the move to Stamford Bridge.

Landing VVD will cost more than £50million as Saints chairman Ralph Krueger is determined to keep him and has tied his player to a deal with five years left to run.

[BoyBlue96 990]

We still have Zouma and Christensen...

Can see this becoming the new Koulibaly saga but with VVD as the main character. 

[Special Juan 27,424]

Save ourselves a boat load of cash and get Andreas back and forget this guy.

[Unionjack 7,531]

1 hour ago, Special Juan said:

Save ourselves a boat load of cash and get Andreas back and forget this guy.

I just cant see him being the answer we need right now.

Theres no doubting the lads going to have a great career and prob the best player at BM but we need a creative, technical CB. Someone who is not only strong defensively but is comfortable on the ball and able to take the ball upfield some to start an attack.

Andreas is strong defending but as far as offence he isn't strong enough yet.

It would be good for us to keep him on now and carry on his training etc on site unless he gets a year at a PL side who could work on him and still get regular playing time.|Caue I cant see him coming back to sit on the bench with his parents and Thorgen bending his ear.

I think he would be good on ariel set pieces tho with the right training.  

https://streamable.com/lvomu

[the wes 7,212]

1 hour ago, Unionjack said:

I just cant see him being the answer we need right now.

Theres no doubting the lads going to have a great career and prob the best player at BM but we need a creative, technical CB. Someone who is not only strong defensively but is comfortable on the ball and able to take the ball upfield some to start an attack.

Andreas is strong defending but as far as offence he isn't strong enough yet.

It would be good for us to keep him on now and carry on his training etc on site unless he gets a year at a PL side who could work on him and still get regular playing time.|Caue I cant see him coming back to sit on the bench with his parents and Thorgen bending his ear.

I think he would be good on ariel set pieces tho with the right training.  

https://streamable.com/lvomu

If Christensen parents thinks Christensen is walk straight into starting line up his parents are in for real shock I think it will be battle between Zouma and Ake and himself who will try to impressed conte in pre-season like moses did last pre-season 

[Chelsea? 892]

No, we don't need a creative CB. that's ridiculous 

[Unionjack 7,531]

37 minutes ago, Chelsea? said:

No, we don't need a creative CB. that's ridiculous 

How can you say that? Or was it sarcasm? If so ignore rest  

We hardly have a drop of creativity and what we do have (Cescy) we hardly utilise.

We only really have Luiz that can get the ball forward from the back and the majority of the time he tries to boot it up looking for Diego.

We dont have any in CM. Our 2 lads are great defensive wise but neither really a B2B. Even with Matic getting a couple of assists and N'Golo finding his way to the final 1/3 more often we dont have anyone to partner N'golo to get thru solid defences.

We need a strong technical CB who can dribble himself safe to pass it forward and not just boot it clear and dreferably one that can get air and a solid link up with our CMs. Our top 3 are not getting the ball often enough and we need to find ways to do it.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

7 minutes ago, Unionjack said:

How can you say that? Or was it sarcasm? If so ignore rest  

We hardly have a drop of creativity and what we do have (Cescy) we hardly utilise.

We only really have Luiz that can get the ball forward from the back and the majority of the time he tries to boot it up looking for Diego.

We dont have any in CM. Our 2 lads are great defensive wise but neither really a B2B. Even with Matic getting a couple of assists and N'Golo finding his way to the final 1/3 more often we dont have anyone to partner N'golo to get thru solid defences.

We need a strong technical CB who can dribble himself safe to pass it forward and not just boot it clear and dreferably one that can get air and a solid link up with our CMs. Our top 3 are not getting the ball often enough and we need to find ways to do it.

As long as that our "creative" CB is very good defender and strong physical type, Im ok. But I dont want any kind of ball playing CB that is average defender (ie Stones, Thiago Silva,...) 

I think the ugly truth about Christensen is that IMO he is not going to be what people expect. Good on the ball, but only decent defender at least for Premier league demands. Sure he is young, but if Conte decides Cahill is not good enough, I think we need either utilise Zouma or get new CB like Dijk or even Tah. 

Just because Christensen can start from the back for the cost of worse defense, no thank you.

[Chelsea? 892]

27 minutes ago, Unionjack said:

How can you say that? Or was it sarcasm? If so ignore rest  

We hardly have a drop of creativity and what we do have (Cescy) we hardly utilise.

We only really have Luiz that can get the ball forward from the back and the majority of the time he tries to boot it up looking for Diego.

We dont have any in CM. Our 2 lads are great defensive wise but neither really a B2B. Even with Matic getting a couple of assists and N'Golo finding his way to the final 1/3 more often we dont have anyone to partner N'golo to get thru solid defences.

We need a strong technical CB who can dribble himself safe to pass it forward and not just boot it clear and dreferably one that can get air and a solid link up with our CMs. Our top 3 are not getting the ball often enough and we need to find ways to do it.

We just need someone decent on the ball that can make simple passes. David Luis can be the creative force from the back. 

Idk much about Christienson but I'd be happy if we didn't buy any defenders. CM, RWB, LWB ( to backup Alonso) and a RW would be nice. 

[Unionjack 7,531]

Liverpool emerge as serious rivals to Chelsea for Virgil van Dijk but Southampton could hold out for £50m

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/liverpool-emerge-as-serious-rivals-to-chelsea-for-virgil-van-dijk-but-southampton-could-hold-out-for-a3498096.html

[the wes 7,212]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/03/27/southampton-eye-mamadou-sakho-chelsea-bound-virgil-van-dijks/amp/

According to reports we are in pole position to sign him 

[Unionjack 7,531]

5 hours ago, the wes said:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/03/27/southampton-eye-mamadou-sakho-chelsea-bound-virgil-van-dijks/amp/

According to reports we are in pole position to sign him 

This bit in Guardian was interesting

In terms of a left-sided defender, Conte has set his sights high and has told Abramovich he is keen to sign David Alaba of Bayern Munich or Juventus’s Alex Sandro. The Southampton central defender Virgil van Dijk is also a target, as is the Monaco midfielder Tiemoué Bakayoko,

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/mar/28/chelsea-arsenal-alexis-sanchez-no1-summer-transfer-target?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[akgw13 867]

20 minutes ago, Unionjack said:

This bit in Guardian was interesting

In terms of a left-sided defender, Conte has set his sights high and has told Abramovich he is keen to sign David Alaba of Bayern Munich or Juventus’s Alex Sandro. The Southampton central defender Virgil van Dijk is also a target, as is the Monaco midfielder Tiemoué Bakayoko,

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/mar/28/chelsea-arsenal-alexis-sanchez-no1-summer-transfer-target?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

I find either extremely hard to believe, MAYBE Sandro if we throw outrageous cash but Alaba? He is one of my favorite players in the world and would be absolutely devastating in our team but Bayern arent going to let him go no matter the price. I refuse to even let myself dream about Alaba haha

[Unionjack 7,531]

Just now, akgw13 said:

I find either extremely hard to believe, MAYBE Sandro if we throw outrageous cash but Alaba? He is one of my favorite players in the world and would be absolutely devastating in our team but Bayern arent going to let him go no matter the price. I refuse to even let myself dream about Alaba haha

Dreams are what kept most of us going in the pre Roman eras and what keeps it interesting still.

Ive realized over the years that nothing concerning football is written in stone and all things are possible.

So its 'Never say never' bud. We dont know what we can do until we try.

[akgw13 867]

6 minutes ago, Unionjack said:

Dreams are what kept most of us going in the pre Roman eras and what keeps it interesting still.

Ive realized over the years that nothing concerning football is written in stone and all things are possible.

So its 'Never say never' bud. We dont know what we can do until we try.

I agree 100% and if you look back at a lot of my posts I dream quite often haha. That was more of a personal statement because Alaba is the absolute pinnacle of the position in my eyes and I won't even let myself go there and even if it was an agreed upon deal for whatever price I STILL wouldnt believe it until its officially announced and he signs  but yes, dream away sir!

[The Skipper 20,593]

On 3/21/2017 at 0:58 PM, Unionjack said:

I just cant see him being the answer we need right now.

Theres no doubting the lads going to have a great career and prob the best player at BM but we need a creative, technical CB. Someone who is not only strong defensively but is comfortable on the ball and able to take the ball upfield some to start an attack.

Andreas is strong defending but as far as offence he isn't strong enough yet.

It would be good for us to keep him on now and carry on his training etc on site unless he gets a year at a PL side who could work on him and still get regular playing time.|Caue I cant see him coming back to sit on the bench with his parents and Thorgen bending his ear.

I think he would be good on ariel set pieces tho with the right training.  

https://streamable.com/lvomu

Sorry, Christensen is one of the most elegant defenders out there. Way more elegant than Van Dijk anyway. If you want a creative CB, you should be wanting Christensen over Van Dijk who is more of an athletic ball carrier.

[Unionjack 7,531]

4 hours ago, The Skipper said:

Sorry, Christensen is one of the most elegant defenders out there. Way more elegant than Van Dijk anyway. If you want a creative CB, you should be wanting Christensen over Van Dijk who is more of an athletic ball carrier.

My problem is I haven't watched him very much at all so I don't know his capabilities now.

I do know he is liked muchly by the people who do tho and to be BM player of the year must say something.

So if it comes around that he does end up as CB over Cahill I would understand it.