Finding the Next VVD.....

[StevieM]

You have people who have opinions and people who sit on the fence and say nothing because they know that way they can’t be judged later down the line. A lot of talking but without saying much. No one knew of Van Dijk at Gronigen so yes, people would’ve been asking who the fuck this donny was. Salah didn’t do much of note in the limited time he had at Chelsea, so had we signed him off the back of that then I’m sure people would’ve been asking why we’re signing a Chelsea flop.

Neither happened and we ended up signing both at 24/25 after they had eached performed at a high level. Would they turned out to be the players they are now had they not had the years between at Celtic/Southampton/Fiorentina/Roma? You tell us Mr know it all.

I can tell you that, like Virgil and Mo, if Braithwaite & Colwill find themselves playing regularly at a decent level under a good coach (ie not Everton or Dyche in Braithwaite’s case), there’s every chance they could develop into CBs of the highest quality.

They may not.

In your case your opinions seemed to be formulated like you use a spinny thing and wherever it lands that’s your badge of honour to live or die by.

It’s weird, but it’s amusing - like a footballing version of the Diceman.

Dreamie’s similar - he doubles down on everything he says even when he’s been shown to be utterly wrong (unless he’s cashing out).

I wonder… is it linked to betting - you and Dreamie like a punt - I don’t, so maybe that’s my natural conservative nature Versus your “let’s stick it all on red and be damned”.

 

[My_Blood_Bleeds_Red]

Imagine if Warnock had signed Van Dijk.

*shudders*

 

[Judge Jules]

Virgil's the best we'll see in our lifetimes so, as others have said, there'll be no replacing him directly. We'll just have to get as close as we can AND continue to improve in other areas in order to bridge the gap.

I slightly disagree with one or two earlier posts which don't rate Saliba as being of the right standard. He's not Virgil mk.2 but he's a very good CB and young enough to keep improving. I can't see the Arse letting him come to us but I'd defo be interested if there were a deal to be done.

 

[Hyena]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxAWob4cbg4

 

[moron]

I can tell you that, like Virgil and Mo, if Braithwaite & Colwill find themselves playing regularly at a decent level under a good coach (ie not Everton or Dyche in Braithwaite’s case), there’s every chance they could develop into CBs of the highest quality.

They may not.

In your case your opinions seemed to be formulated like you use a spinny thing and wherever it lands that’s your badge of honour to live or die by.

It’s weird, but it’s amusing - like a footballing version of the Diceman.

Dreamie’s similar - he doubles down on everything he says even when he’s been shown to be utterly wrong (unless he’s cashing out).

I wonder… is it linked to betting - you and Dreamie like a punt - I don’t, so maybe that’s my natural conservative nature Versus your “let’s stick it all on red and be damned”.

Is it worth then the club to look at players of a certain age group to see if they match VVD's trajectory at that stage. I think Saliba and maybe even Colwell are better at their age than VVD was - is it correct to say that ?

 

[Modo]

Where is all this talk about signing Saliba coming from? That will never happen.

 

[moron]

Where is all this talk about signing Saliba coming from? That will never happen.

No one has said that - it was just a suggestion - he is likely to go to RM than join us.

 

[Judge Jules]

Where is all this talk about signing Saliba coming from? That will never happen.

There isn't any that I can see. I rate him very highly and I referenced his quality above, but I also said I can't see the Arse allowing such a move.

 

[Judge Jules]

Is it worth then the club to look at players of a certain age group to see if they match VVD's trajectory at that stage. I think Saliba and maybe even Colwell are better at their age than VVD was - is it correct to say that ?

I don't think they've ever been of higher basic quality than Virgil but they're possibly performing better than he did at that age. Virgil himself has admitted that he didn't take his early career seriously enough at times.

 

[FreshRed]

Given that no one is going to match VVD, one that I like a lot is Van Hecke at Brighton. He does not have the intimidation factor, but he is very effective and excellent with the ball.

 

[StevieM]

Is it worth then the club to look at players of a certain age group to see if they match VVD's trajectory at that stage. I think Saliba and maybe even Colwell are better at their age than VVD was - is it correct to say that ?

Isn’t that what we do - try to identify players that are over-performing in young age groups, etc.

I think you can say that Saliba & Colwil are better at their age than VVD, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll continue on that direction, or that another young player that isn’t playing at as high a level suddenly hits a massive development phase.

I think we do look at attributes and things similar to VVD that young players stand out in - maybe young Nallo could developed - left footed CB that’s good on the ball.l - though he’s “only” 6 ft1 - maybe he’s still growing.

Quansah ticks a lot of boxes as well - maybe he just needs to refocus on his development and he’ll take another leap forward in a year or so.