Virgil van Dijk

[JustAnotherCityFan]

Well Will Hills and Bet Fred haven't got the memo still 16/1 and 14/1 on there.

 

[birchwoodgingerste]

fuck I do hope so!!

Were favs for ben gibson so it means nothing

 

[Taylor]

Sky Bet have suspended betting on VVD joining City. Maybe something is about to happen!

But he chose the dippers

 

[richards30]

Were favs for ben gibson so it means nothing

being favs is different to betting being suspended though surely? it can be a flurry of large bets but most of the time there is no smoke without fire?

 

[Cobwebcat]

Delph plus cash for VVD.

I can see Delph at Southampton. Wishful thinking though.

 

[J_MCFC21]

Thought Mangala looked good yesterday however if he is off to Inter then i'd prefer VVD over others.

 

[nmc]

Thought Mangala looked good yesterday however if he is off to Inter then i'd prefer VVD over others.

Mangala's defending looked good & strong and his positioning looked much better but his distribution looked woeful and that's what Pep will have been watching.

 

[Airbags Optional]

IMO we don't need to spend this amount on a Cb just to cover Vinnie. The way I see it is that the way we play is very risky, which I like as it beats watching turgid long ball, park the bus and counter attack tactics like the Rags play. we could buy the best centre back ever and we would still get exposed on occasions so it's all about risk remediation cost be benefits, would spending 70mil provide that much in benefits? I am not sure. For this system to work, it needs players to put a shift in 1st and foremost, win the ball back quickly and don't allow time for us to be exposed. This is what has taken Pep a season to get installed in the team as it is proactive and not passive like previous managers tactics - mindset change for the players is always the hardest thing to implement

 

[nmc]

IMO we don't need to spend this amount on a Cb just to cover Vinnie. The way I see it is that the way we play is very risky, which I like as it beats watching turgid long ball, park the bus and counter attack tactics like the Rags play. we could buy the best centre back ever and we would still get exposed on occasions so it's all about risk remediation cost be benefits, would spending 70mil provide that much in benefits? I am not sure. For this system to work, it needs players to put a shift in 1st and foremost, win the ball back quickly and don't allow time for us to be exposed. This is what has taken Pep a season to get installed in the team as it is proactive and not passive like previous managers tactics - mindset change for the players is always the hardest thing to implement

The risk with the way we set up last year was our propensity to lose possession high up the pitch with both full backs over committed. This left Stones and Ottamendi seriously exposed and the results were not pretty. On Saturday it was noticeable that Walker recovered very quickly when we lost possession and together with the back three we looked less committed and less exposed when we gave possession away. You could argue on Saturday we were too conservative and could have gone with two CBs and had the extra man in midfield. whilst in this system we may not need the complete centre back we do need and ability to read the game and genuine pace - the two elements that are expensive.

 

[chase of spades]

When we played Brighton ..kompany got caught a couple times on the counter and couldn't keep up to get back. That happens against a better team with better wingers etc ..it probably ends with a goal.