thoughts on de jong?

[kippaxblue76]

no one is judging him its an opinion on one game and with all the paper talk i thought de jong was going to be an animal.i will be honest though vinny was a bargain the more you see other centre mids play against or for us you begin to see what a top buy vinny was and for me he his our long term holding mid for years sorry if this upsets some people but its my opinion .do you think vinny and de jong can play together or would this be too negative with 2 holding centre mids

I give up.

 

[1.618034]

Im amazed at some of these posts, I thought he was quality.

And that muppet who said for £18m you expected more - go have a word with yourself sunshine. I find the fact people are trying to justify his price tag after 70 mins of football just laughable.

He's a holding midfielder, he's not an exciting player so im not so sure what some of you want from him. He did fade, hasnt played in three months, but he always wanted the ball, always gave an option to the defence and his tackling was quality. Made one mistake in the 2nd half but recovered it well.

He will be a quality signing.

Spot on with all of that... Some people are never satisfied!

He's the type of player who will come into his own in the big games, as he'll snuff out opposition attacks and really help in protecting the centre halves and linking the play in midfield...

What was most notable last night was how well we kept and played the ball around at the back, admittedly against a v. poor bar-codes 'attack', but it's something, in fact the major thing we've been missing this season... When we had Dunne and Richards in there the ball's been like a hot-potato which has led to either Dunne, Richards or Hart resorting to a long hoof up field, to no one in particular... I don't remember too much of that last night!

Just wait until Alan Hansen's eulogising about him when we play one of the top 5... I can hear him on MOTD now... "Greet player, what he gives you is strength, composure and bite..."

I think we got a glimpse of the future last night, with de Jong and Zab in midfield with one being replaced by Elano (or A N Other?) when we need a bit more going forward, Richards back at RB where he's far more comfortable (although his forward play still needs more work, defensively he is really solid and very little gets past him) and Vinnie at centre half and as Captain.

Also Bridge is a vast improvement on any left back we've had since Willie feckin' Donachie, which makes £12M look like a right bargain (IMO), so I'll forgive him the error that led to their goal for now, and once we can choose between Hart and probably Given in goal that just leaves the left sided CB slot that's still up for grabs... Onuoha's looked solid there in the last couple of games, but I'm not sure he's the final answer, but only time will tell whether Hughes agrees on that one eh?

I was very encouraged by last night even though we made it too close for comfort in the end... Newcastle really were there for the taking and if Elano had started I think we'd have won by 3 or 4, but last night was more about bedding de Jong and the new formation in and getting the result. With him and Zab in the team we may score less goals but we'll also concede far less which again in the big games is going to be more important.

We gained ground on everyone except West Ham last night so I really do think 7th is nailed on and if Cahill's out for Everton, then 6th is looking very doable... Only 9 points behind with the Pompey game in hand, which being on a free Saturday isn't going to compromise us with an extra mid-week game.

Onwards... Upwards!

 

[DontLookBackInAnger]

It was his first game FFS! I agree with the OP, he was OK but didn't really get a good feeling for him and like some have pointed out having not played in 3 months thats more than understandable.

 

[Shooter 83]

so bearing in mind and the comparison to vinny and the fact that newcastle look like relegation tackle and the 18 mil price you didnt expect more.i have said with mh,s training he will obviously improve and beleive me if he turns out to be claud i would be over the moon but i personaly expected him to be better than vinny but to be honest i dont think anyone will be better than vinny

Where do you keep getting the 18m from? the sun? More like 14m according to hamburg.

 

[bluemonkey71]

Good performance and will get better every game...

 

[zormik]

so what your saying he was better than vinny on hes debut in the same position this is what iam comparing hes debut too as they both play in the same position
i was expecting him to be better than vinny with the bigger price tag or am i missing something

Kompany was enormously underpriced because he wasn't happy at Hamburg and Hamburg wanted to get rid of him because he chose for the Belgian Team that went to the Olympics over Hamburg, next to that he has had a lot of personal problems and injuries to deal with when he was in Hamburg, he just recoved from that last summer. Put a price on him now and he'll be worth at least the double if not more then what you payed for him.

Kompany was rated as one of the biggest defensive talents from his agecategory in the world in his time before he went to Hamburg, his progression just got stalled there because of injuries and his mother's death.

 

[sqblue]

i can't believe i've read that he did 'nothing spectacular'.

he's a DM, and the best ones don't do anything spectacular, and indeed the very best hardly get noticed during a game. look at makalele in his pomp. rarely MOTM, but usually the most important player to his team.

 

[markbmcfc]

Im amazed at some of these posts, I thought he was quality.

And that muppet who said for £18m you expected more - go have a word with yourself sunshine. I find the fact people are trying to justify his price tag after 70 mins of football just laughable.

He's a holding midfielder, he's not an exciting player so im not so sure what some of you want from him. He did fade, hasnt played in three months, but he always wanted the ball, always gave an option to the defence and his tackling was quality. Made one mistake in the 2nd half but recovered it well.

He will be a quality signing.

What was most notable last night was how well we kept and played the ball around at the back, admittedly against a v. poor bar-codes 'attack', but it's something, in fact the major thing we've been missing this season... When we had Dunne and Richards in there the ball's been like a hot-potato which has led to either Dunne, Richards or Hart resorting to a long hoof up field, to no one in particular... I don't remember too much of that last night!

Best point of the thread, spot on dude and my thoughts exactly.

I get the feeling he is going to be the unsung hero of the side. If he stops the defence punting it to robinho's head, he's worth £18m already.

Didnt stop Hart doing that last night but...hey, hi Shay!

 

[miing]

thought de jong looked solid and confident,with a touch of intimidation in there as well,,just what the doctor ordered IMO.
weve got the makings of a really solid team.
two very strong centre mids in de jong and company,i think zab will go back to right back.
im positive dunny will regain his form,but along side who? onuoha or richards or a n other? then if we have given in goal,that for me will wil give us loads of options,especially if we can get one of our taller forwards to play well alongside the now beloved craig.

 

[Kippax.]

I didn't get a good feel for him tonight...what did you think?

Give the guy a fucking chance, he seemed to close people down very well. 7/10 for me good solid first debut