Virgil Van Dijk

[Beigl 1,387]

£50m pounds is madness for Van Dijk. Virgil isn't a bad defender, but he isn't worth more than say £30m. Would much rather bring back Christensen and slowly introduce him into the starting XI.

[LAM09 6,773]

£50m pounds is madness for Van Dijk. Virgil isn't a bad defender, but he isn't worth more than say £30m. Would much rather bring back Christensen and slowly introduce him into the starting XI.

£30m is a joke. He isn't HG & hasn't become much better since leaving Celtic for £11.5m.

CB is a position where we have several options. Something needs to be done about a few players before bringing in anyone.

[OneMoSalah 8,783]

Watched him play at Celtic and also seen him vaguely in games for Southampton. Not worth 50m. He is a good player but still 50 million? When we have Zouma, Christensen, even Ake (not sure if he will ever make the grade but would rather let him get a chance than pay 50m for Van Dijk). 50m would get Laporte from Bilbao... 

[FabHazard 655]

 

[Pizy 18,413]

Fantastic player who I'd love to sign but I wonder how ruthless Conte will be. If we pay huge money for VVD he's surely starting every match which means Cahill is benched. Would Conte do that to Cahill who has been our solid captain in a potential title winning campaign? After he (rightly or wrongly) was in the team of the season?

With Cristensen confirmed to be returning I'm not sure we'll even be after another CB but rather focusing on the wing back areas.

[Special Juan 27,439]

7 minutes ago, Pizy said:

Fantastic player who I'd love to sign but I wonder how ruthless Conte will be. If we pay huge money for VVD he's surely starting every match which means Cahill is benched. Would Conte do that to Cahill who has been our solid captain in a potential title winning campaign? After he (rightly or wrongly) was in the team of the season?

With Cristensen confirmed to be returning I'm not sure we'll even be after another CB but rather focusing on the wing back areas.

If this guy arrives for the price that is spoken about he becomes a starter for sure, we also need to stop exactly what we have seen with Batshuayi....A big money buy sat on the bench when we all knew we played with 1 striker and Costa was always number 1. I'd sooner see us not pay this astronomical fee for a very standard defender and put some real trust in AC who has been superb all season, and save us 50M quid.

[Pizy 18,413]

5 minutes ago, Special Juan said:

If this guy arrives for the price that is spoken about he becomes a starter for sure, we also need to stop exactly what we have seen with Batshuayi....A big money buy sat on the bench when we all knew we played with 1 striker and Costa was always number 1. I'd sooner see us not pay this astronomical fee for a very standard defender and put some real trust in AC who has been superb all season, and save us 50M quid.

Maybe it's possible Andreas competes with Azpi and Van Dijk with Cahill/Luiz. With so many matches next season there will be plenty of playing time for everyone. Even days where Conte completely switches formations.

Think Zouma may be the biggest casualty this summer.

[zekinjo 449]

Hope this is true. Anyway, I am very excited about the team for 2017/2018 season. I expect at least 2 or 3 new players in the starting eleven.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

1 hour ago, Pizy said:

Maybe it's possible Andreas competes with Azpi and Van Dijk with Cahill/Luiz. With so many matches next season there will be plenty of playing time for everyone. Even days where Conte completely switches formations.

Think Zouma may be the biggest casualty this summer.

We will only rotate defence if Conte wont be happy with performances or injuries/bans. 

If lets say Azpi, Luiz and one of Cahill/Dijk/Christensen performs well, others will have maybe game once per month. 

Wingbacks are different thing, but Im 100% sure we wont rotate defense because of fatigue. Luiz, Azpi, Cahill are the types of players who can play 50 games per season too. 

Obviously Conte will want to improve defense with additional CB, but once he finds his best 3, there will be no rotations ala Cahill for PL, then AC for CL etc. His game is based on same defenders who get used to the style and after that there is no rotation in that department. 

We might have 2-3 CBs on bench but they will be nothing more but quality backups. 

Obviously smaller cup games, Conte will probably mix whole squad, so they will get their play time there.

[Fernando 6,483]

Cahill 

2 hours ago, Pizy said:

Fantastic player who I'd love to sign but I wonder how ruthless Conte will be. If we pay huge money for VVD he's surely starting every match which means Cahill is benched. Would Conte do that to Cahill who has been our solid captain in a potential title winning campaign? After he (rightly or wrongly) was in the team of the season?

With Cristensen confirmed to be returning I'm not sure we'll even be after another CB but rather focusing on the wing back areas.

Despite cahill role he is still average. 

Not to mention we have not been able to keep many clean sheets as of late. 

This guy is everything we need. 

[Pizy 18,413]

45 minutes ago, Fernando said:

Cahill 

Despite cahill role he is still average. 

Not to mention we have not been able to keep many clean sheets as of late. 

This guy is everything we need. 

I agree, but it would be harsh on Cahill to just get perma-benched. Does he just assume the role JT currently has? A couple of scattered appearences here and there?

I mean, I've been calling for a Cahill replacement here as much as anyone but I'm not convinced the club are as down on him as the fans are. 

[manpe 10,861]

Talking about Cahill, I don't see how we can afford to lose so many HG players in one window. No way we'd be able to replace the outgoing players (JT, GC, Bego) with any sort of quality, only other option would be to fill the squad with U21 players who we know will not be used and would make the squad thinner than it already is. Cahill needs to stay regardless who we sign, and Conte needs to find a way to keep him happy if he does get replaced.

[Spike 12,049]

4 minutes ago, manpe said:

Talking about Cahill, I don't see how we can afford to lose so many HG players in one window. No way we'd be able to replace the outgoing players (JT, GC, Bego) with any sort of quality, only other option would be to fill the squad with U21 players who we know will not be used and would make the squad thinner than it already is. Cahill needs to stay regardless who we sign, and Conte needs to find a way to keep him happy if he does get replaced.

Cahill isn't even a bad player. Not everyone can be a wunderkind or world class. 

[Clockwork 1,794]

1 hour ago, Spike said:

Cahill isn't even a bad player. Not everyone can be a wunderkind or world class. 

forum mentality, either you are garbage or great no middle ground.

[Special Juan 27,439]

Puyel confirming VvD will play for Southampton next season....hope it's true as it's 50M saved.

[OneMoSalah 8,783]

would rather take the 50M and throw it at Juventus for Alex Sandro or Bilbao for Laporte... So I am extremely glad than hes not leaving Southampton.

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

1 hour ago, Special Juan said:

Puyel confirming VvD will play for Southampton next season....hope it's true as it's 50M saved.

 

16 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

would rather take the 50M and throw it at Juventus for Alex Sandro or Bilbao for Laporte... So I am extremely glad than hes not leaving Southampton.

you know puyel can say all he wants.... torres stayed at liverpool? suarez? stones? etc etc...

[OneMoSalah 8,783]

11 hours ago, xPetrCechx said:

 

you know puyel can say all he wants.... torres stayed at liverpool? suarez? stones? etc etc...

50m for van Dijk would be a mistake. But thats modern day football for you, over priced players in the Premier League.