Liverpool have signed Van Dijk for 75m. :wacko:
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Liverpool have signed Van Dijk for 75m. :wacko:
Liverpool to sign Van Dijk for 75 million in January, at least they're trying to do something about their defence and willing to pay the necessary
#ambition
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42496637
Meanwhile at Arsenal :tumbleweed:whilst half the team prepare to depart in the summer.
On the brightside we scraped a draw against Liverpool at home and drew a game away to Chelsea #spoilt
Went back in for him and got the deal done pronto, no 6 month lowballing needed here, or indeed £1 extra bids #bigclubQuote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
Happy for Pool. In truth it doesnt matter who Wenger signs. Unless they have the happy fortune to come to us completely deaf and cant hear a word of his batshit instructions...... If so, they could be a good signing.
£75 million, for a defender? :haha:
Jesus wept.
Including add ons, but yeah, :wacko:
I don't really care about transfer fees anymore. They're all mental. The TV money keeps going up, and even if Sky/BT do start to slow down, China/India/wherever will plug the gap.
Spending the Coutinho money I say.
They managed to get a player that had interest from several top clubs, like Chelsea and City. Fair play to them.
Ferdinand went for 30m, almost 20 years ago, Apple shares were probably £5 then, Now they are more than £100 so...Meh!Quote:
Originally Posted by McNamara That Ghost...
English international 15 years ago playing for a European football attaining (at that time) heated rival.Quote:
Originally Posted by Globalgunner
In any case no words will make me think this isn't ludicrous.
Probably.Quote:
Originally Posted by McNamara That Ghost...
But then before the Dembele/Neymar/Mbappe insanity, then we probably would have got about £70m rather than £120m+ we'll get now.
And we probably had to put about £15m on the fee for Blackpool :ninja:
I would say fair enough if it was a striker or even an attacking midfielder who could elevate the team to a new level, but a single defender alone isn't going to solve anything automatically. Having a good defence is as much about good coaching as it is individual ability IMO.
Jose will not be happy. Now he`s going to ask Woodward for 500m to spend in January.
True, Sol Campbell was an excellent defender but he couldn’t do it all in that shambles of a Spurs defence before he came to us.
Respect to VVD.
Could have taken the mercenary route and signed for Chelsea or Man City and taken the easy option as most do, going for instant trophies and more money,, but decided to go to a real club with real fans and where he'll get game time, with probably a lesser package.
Respect.
The day that this is football, I'm not in a job anymore
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...b-anymore.html
Lol!. Famous last wordsQuote:
Originally Posted by GP
People are laughing at them for overpaying but as you rightly said they are addressing their weakest areas by purchasing the very best players available to them within their budget. That Naby Keita the midfielder they signed from Leipzig is absolute quality too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
They are putting us to shame in the ambition stakes, it’s not even funny anymore, it’s gone way beyond that.
This time next year they will be miles ahead of us, you can quote me on that.
You pay what you have to pay to get the player you want, if you want to be cheap you won't get him, so it kinda depends how serious you are about being successful, it seems Liverpool are pretty serious.
Respect to them, they don't have the finances of other clubs but are willing to pay what's needed to improve their team, their attack is pretty amazing but their defence is dodgy and they're trying to improve it.
Choice of spending nothing or signing nobodies or spending big bucks and signing proven players, I know which one I prefer.
A glass of fortune is worth a fortune to a man dying of thirst. If they win stuff with the signing of him and Keita then the fee is irrelevant.Quote:
Originally Posted by McNamara That Ghost...
We have the budget to sign a 75million pound defender but won’t because of the regime.
Totally agree, they're trying to progress and to be successful, hats off to them for that, it should what being a big club is about. Yes Keita who is joining in the summer will also be a big plus, he's comes with a big reputation and is supposed to be one of the most talented younger players around.Quote:
Originally Posted by selassie
Totally agree with you, Arsenal is a joke of a big club to be honest, there's no ambition and nothing existing for the fans, it's one big disappointment these days, even some of the fans now hail mediocrity as if it's something to be proud about, embarassing all round. If this is Wenger's legacy I'd wave him goodbye and ask him to shut the door behind him.
Yep and you know the sad thing is Wenger will look at what Liverpool have done and digs his heels in more, the whole thing is pathetic. If he could unearth gems for nothing I’d have no issues with our policy but as it stands it’s a mess and is weakening our team to the point of negligence.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
Good, I don't really see much in Van Dijk.Quote:
Originally Posted by selassie
The fee is not irrelevant because spending £75 millon on a defender is using up resources where it might otherwise be needed, especially when it's highly likely Coutinho will be going.
Also, realistically what are Liverpool going to win?
Another also, why can't this just be insane, looking at it purely from someone who first and foremost is a fan of football? Why does it have to be in comparison to Arsenal?
Weren't you recently going on about Arsenal dicking around purchasing a player and then when finally got that player had to spend more than they would've done originally?Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
Liverpool spending the same money on a defender that they sold Suarez for is just bonkers.
I don’t think Van Dijk is a 75million pound defender, who is? but I do think he’s one of the best around in PL. He’s an all rounder, can pass, tackle, is decent in the air, quick on the ground, pretty decent reading of the game too, he has it all to reach the very top IMO.Quote:
Originally Posted by McNamara That Ghost...
Sure Coutinho is a big loss to Liverpool and it weakens them but at least they are resolving problem areas, that Naby Keita they signed is a top class young midfielder, he will go some way to seriously strengthening them. Besides, their attack is quality, they won’t struggle for goals without Coutinho, creativity may be an issue though.
I genuinely think they could win PL next season if they fix their weak areas, they need a new keeper for sure and maybe a full back but I don’t think they are a million miles away TBH.
TBF even if they don’t hoover up the trophies at least they are trying to be competitive. We have literally just given up.
We're onto stage 2 of the klopp project.Quote:
Originally Posted by selassie
Stage 1 usually consists of him giving existing players a chance to prove themselves. He's a very loyal man. He assesses the squad and sees what he has to deal with.
Stage 2 is when he decides who won't make the cut and signs reinforcements.
Stage 2 is when the team usually steps up a notch.
Yes I did, it was Lemar we were trying to get, a guy we could have got for a fraction of what we offered if we'd not decided to lowball for a while, truth is we were only willing to pay up when most of the fee had been covered by the sale of Sanchez.Quote:
Originally Posted by McNamara That Ghost...
Liverpool want to improve, Suarez was sold year ago now, the market has changed, players cost more, it's not great but it is what it is, you can either be like Wenger and put in lowball bids which get you nowhere or stump up and get the player before someone else does. Liverpool have done the latter, you can see how poor their defence is and they're trying to do something about it.
As for Coutinho, unlike us in the past they've kept hold of him (just like they did when we went in for Suarez), they may well sell him for a huge fortune but they'll again have money to spend and their attack is still amazing even without him.
Quite honestly, I'm just sick of how cheap we are, I'd much prefer if we just paid up and got the players we need rather than wasting time with under market value bids and signings relative nobodies which turn out to be overpriced anyway (Xhaka).
We are on stage 98 of the Wenger 100 step programme.
2% away from Tropheees!
The value is irrelevant really, it's how much he's worth to Liverpool, if he tighens up their defence and allows them to challenge for the big prizes he'll be worth every penny, just like expensive signings before him. Liverpool have the money, they've got money from the CL and want to spend it on him and I respect that personally, better than keeping it in the bank.Quote:
Originally Posted by McNamara That Ghost...
Liverpool if they fi their defence will be one of the best teams and capable of winnign the big prizes, their attack is pretty amazing as it stands, they've got Keita coming as well.
Spot on. They're breaking the record on the area of the team that needs most improving.Quote:
Originally Posted by selassie
Meanwhile our fans are laughing. What are we doing about our dodgy defence? Going into the remaining games with Koscielny and Mustafi? :lol:
Agree, you can't build a team immediately, takes a bit of time to get each area correct, he's got the attack spot on, now he just needs to fix the defence which clearly he's trying to do.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dumbledore
We on the other hand have a manager who can't even see the obvious, then team gives away goals left, right and centre every season and still he doesn't sign defenders or DM, it's amateurish.
Nobody is, nobody has paid that much for a defender; that's the point!Quote:
Originally Posted by selassie
I think Liverpool are a lot, lot further away than they were in 2007/2008, with perhaps similar levels of competition within the top end of the league - their goalkeeper to midfield just doesn't have the requisite quality. I can't see how spending their record transfer on this particular player is going to aid that process.
It does make me feel a bit more understanding of why even participate in this charade.
Precisely, I love the way Arsena fans belittle other teams when they identify a problem area and pay what it takes to try and resolve it, better than leaving the same problem year after year and sticking with has beens and players who aren't good enough.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dumbledore
All we do is stick the money in the bank and don't compete, we're a joke of a big club, our definition of success is getting into the top 4, it's literally all we're interested in (Lacazette said as much, we already knew anyway).
Would love it if the English coefficient score dropped so that we had one less team entering, we'd literally have nothing to play for then and would be shown up for the also rans we really area.
Apparently this Keita guy is something special, potentially a superstar from what I read (one of the potential next big stars), so that goes a long way to addressing the midfield issue.Quote:
Originally Posted by McNamara That Ghost...
They need to fix their defence and goalkeeper and clearly they can see this and are addressing the defensive issues (if you ask me our defence is just as bad if not worse and you don't see us in for any defenders, never mind paying big bucks for one), if they fix those areas they won't be far away as their attack is pretty great, they also play some great stuff.
Would swap their situation for ours anyday of the week, a team trying to progress vs a team of has beens only heading one way and about to lose their two best players.
I think with Liverpool it’s as much how they are setup as it is the playing personnel.
Hmmm so you don't really know anything about Keita then? I don't think it's really fair to make him a tick as a rectification for midfield problems, as you say, he's a young player.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
I don't see how spending such a sum on one defender is rectifying the issues, it seems like a temporary plaster to me as MO adroitly pointed out earlier.
I'm struggling to think how we've ended up with the defenders we have now if we don't go for any defenders. As ever with us, it's also the midfield allowing runners from deep which puts us under so much pressure.
However all of this is sidetalk to how perverse the market is.
I don't know mcuh about him as I don't follow the Bundesligue, I really only just read an article where he was mentioned as one of the players who could take up the mantle from players like Messi and Ronaldo (alongside players like Neymar and a few others), on that basis he's clearly very highly rated, he cost 50 million as well in the summer which is big bucks for a player from the Bundersligue tbh.Quote:
Originally Posted by McNamara That Ghost...
It can't hurt, he's a very good defender, it's as much about getting the right pairing in the centre of defence as the player and he could certainly help with that, he certainly won't make them any worse.
We've bought defenders, but none of them top class, mostly they've been relatively unknown cheapish buys, Mustafi is the exception but with that one we bought him late in the window and Valencia knew we were desperate, we overpaid basically. We've had Koscielny quite a while, as with most other defenders, Holding was brought in as a project, but in my eyes none of them were ready made top quality signings. The issue about midfield is very valid, but we've needed a decent DM for longer than I can remember and Wenger just refuses to sign one (another other manager would have by now), unless you count Xhaka, who can't tackle, can't read the game and to be honest is slow, ponderous and can't pass under pressure.
Regardless of our midfield though, the defence is incredibly error prone, many of the errors are errors you would see in a pub league.
Bunch of voyeurs! :lol: Why can't we just mind our business? Fucking Arsenal fans! Besides the manager and players really pissing me off, the fans are getting on my nerves as well. Joke of a club.Quote:
Originally Posted by selassie
We'll laugh at what clubs are paying for certain players now but when such teams overtake us in the league we'll point to their transfer spending as the reason why. Some will never lean. As you've pointed out, this is about trying to address the weak areas in your team. A ludicrous price tag but it shows how much Klopp wants to address a problem and how much pressure he is under.
Doesnt matter how much we spend... with Wenger in charge, we will not go anywhere. At least another 1.5 years of this shit.
Never seen Keita play a full 90 neither.....but if he is anything like some of his hype then the combination of him and Van Dijk added to their first team is astonishingly good. The price tag is nuts, but personnel wise I'm pretty impressed.