Virgil Van Dijk

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

27 minutes ago, marflow said:

Ake was standing next to Kane when he scored with his head (1-1). Luiz and Cahill struggled alot with Benteke, Zaha, Rashford etc in our latest games. 

A player like Zouma, Cahill or van Dijk might have stopped that header simply because they are so much bigger than Ake and the ball would might have hit them but other than that there was nothing he could do about it. These kind of finishes work 1 out of 10 times. Was an absolute fluke goal so it is harsh to judge Ake on that.

I am a fan of VVD but I am not sure we need him with Zouma, Christensen, Ake coming through and Cahill, Luiz and Azpi still in their best years. 

[Fernando 6,585]

5 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

A player like Zouma, Cahill or van Dijk might have stopped that header simply because they are so much bigger than Ake and the ball would might have hit them but other than that there was nothing he could do about it. These kind of finishes work 1 out of 10 times. Was an absolute fluke goal so it is harsh to judge Ake on that.

I am a fan of VVD but I am not sure we need him with Zouma, Christensen, Ake coming through and Cahill, Luiz and Azpi still in their best years. 

Zouma is not good, and Christensen and Ake are not sure thing. 

It's like saying back in the days let's not get Hazard because we had Kakuta....

Competition will be needed. 

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

Just now, Fernando said:

Zouma is not good, and Christensen and Ake are not sure thing. 

It's like saying back in the days let's not get Hazard because we had Kakuta....

Competition will be needed. 

Well I think all three young men are more than competent and a back three with world class defenders like Luiz and Azpi in it can afford one understudy. 

Also that is a difference. We bought Hazard because we had not had a winger with pace and dribbling ability since robben had left in 2007. Now we have a number of excellent defenders. 

[quickpassnmove 924]

2 hours ago, Fernando said:

Zouma is not good, and Christensen and Ake are not sure thing. 

It's like saying back in the days let's not get Hazard because we had Kakuta....

Competition will be needed. 

good reply.

[The Skipper 20,609]

9 hours ago, Fernando said:

Zouma is not good, and Christensen and Ake are not sure thing. 

It's like saying back in the days let's not get Hazard because we had Kakuta....

Competition will be needed. 

The Hazard/Kakuta comparison is off because these guys are a lot more proven than Gael. Someone like Christensen has a market value of at least £25m imo already. 

[lucio 5,418]

Christensen has excelled at a higher level than VD, good performances v Bayern, Juventus, City

[Artandur 939]

31 minutes ago, lucio said:

Christensen has excelled at a higher level than VD, good performances v Bayern, Juventus, City

Barca...

[Bulshizza 15]

Ake and Zouma are not good enough.

VVD-Christensen are surely better than others.

[Fernando 6,585]

2 hours ago, The Skipper said:

The Hazard/Kakuta comparison is off because these guys are a lot more proven than Gael. Someone like Christensen has a market value of at least £25m imo already. 

Well then we can use other example. 
I remember people saying oh let's not get so and so because we have mceachran, Bruma, piazon etc etc

If Ake, and Christensen are good they will make it with competitions on our team. 

But we need this guy for the height. And not just buying because of height sake but because he's good!

Otherwise we should just get Peter Crouch, having a very physical player like VVD that is good is very hard to find. 

[The Skipper 20,609]

3 minutes ago, Fernando said:

Well then we can use other exmample. 
I remember people saying oh let's not get so and so because we have mceachran, Bruma, piazon etc etc

None of these guys were even at Ake's level, never mind Christensen. None of them even played regular PL/Bundesliga football like the other two. Andreas has even played in the CL. Can't compare. It's not the same - if these guys weren't at our club they'd definitely be looked at by other big clubs imo. Including us. 

[Fernando 6,585]

10 minutes ago, The Skipper said:

None of these guys were even at Ake's level, never mind Christensen. None of them even played regular PL/Bundesliga football like the other two. Andreas has even played in the CL. Can't compare. It's not the same - if these guys weren't at our club they'd definitely be looked at by other big clubs imo. Including us. 

True point. 

Well we shall see. 

To be fair with Ake to me he's more of an utility player like Azpi. He might grow into different roles. 

I will hold my judgment of Christensen till he's back and playing with us for a couple of months. 

That being said I will find it foolish if we still don't decide to buy another CB. And this is the only guy available out there that would suit us good. 

[The Skipper 20,609]

6 hours ago, Fernando said:

True point. 

Well we shall see. 

To be fair with Ake to me he's more of an utility player like Azpi. He might grow into different roles. 

I will hold my judgment of Christensen till he's back and playing with us for a couple of months. 

That being said I will find it foolish if we still don't decide to buy another CB. And this is the only guy available out there that would suit us good. 

Personally? I'd much rather see our funds distributed in other areas of the team. We need a new CM, new WBs and a new RF before even looking at CBs. Also, need a new CF most likely since Costa is probably off. We can't really afford VVD if we're going to spend big in these areas. 

[marflow 39]

5 minutes ago, The Skipper said:

Personally? I'd much rather see our funds distributed in other areas of the team. We need a new CM, new WBs and a new RF before even looking at CBs. Also, need a new CF most likely since Costa is probably off. We can't really afford VVD if we're going to spend big in these areas. 

We have had an amazing run before christmas, but in the last 11 league games we have conceded atleast one goal, wich is a cause for concern. I don't think there is a problem to buy what we need, if we sell Costa to China, sell Batshuayi, add the transfer fee from Oscar and our increased income from sponsors, CL money etc. 

 

[The Skipper 20,609]

5 minutes ago, marflow said:

We have had an amazing run before christmas, but in the last 11 league games we have conceded atleast one goal, wich is a cause for concern. I don't think there is a problem to buy what we need, if we sell Costa to China, sell Batshuayi, add the transfer fee from Oscar and our increased income from sponsors, CL money etc. 

 

Christensen and Ake are essentially new signings. Lets put some faith in the youth that have proven themselves at relatively high levels. People moan about giving guys from our academy a chance, but when the opportunity arises we want to spend millions on a player who just 2 seasons ago was at Celtic.

[marflow 39]

33 minutes ago, The Skipper said:

Christensen and Ake are essentially new signings. Lets put some faith in the youth that have proven themselves at relatively high levels. People moan about giving guys from our academy a chance, but when the opportunity arises we want to spend millions on a player who just 2 seasons ago was at Celtic.

Dele Alli came from league one two seasons ago, so I don't think it matter that much where VVD came from. He has been one of the best defenders in PL these last two seasons, he has superior physical attributes compared to our defenders and he is comfertable with the ball.

I don't mind Christensen comming back and I think he has a good chance to win one of the starting spots against Azpilicueta, Cahill and D.Luiz next season. I don't think it would be wise to fill our squad with "academy products" in desperation of having one make it though, the timing have to be right, like it was for Courtois.