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VDV

Re: VdV - what was the story?

I guess only Levy, AVB and VDV + Family know the answer to your question.

My feelings are it suited both parties.
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

GHod knows but him out Dempsey / Sig in is proving to be horrific business. Sure he loved it here can't believe he wanted out
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

Don't know, but if we could get him back in January for anything under £20m I'd take it.
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

GHod knows but him out Dempsey / Sig in is proving to be horrific business. Sure he loved it here can't believe he wanted out
100% agree.

Have a feeling he wanted to go back to Germany eventually but would've given us another year.

Can't believe Levy thinks we got value for money selling him and bringing in Sig and Dempsey.
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

VDV is old news and wouldn't suit our new pressing game anyway. He'd probably have countless arguments with AV about his lack of pressing which inevitably results in him sitting on the bench.
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

VDV is old news and wouldn't suit our new pressing game anyway. He'd probably have countless arguments with AV about his lack of pressing which inevitably results in him sitting on the bench.

yep would not have suited our new great coach

avb is going to need time, i have said i will give him to the end of the season and then judge him on how we are playing, but boy oh boy its going to be a long season
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

VDV is old news and wouldn't suit our new pressing game anyway. He'd probably have countless arguments with AV about his lack of pressing which inevitably results in him sitting on the bench.

We only seem to press in the first half anyway. Today was a prime example, we tried to press Wigan into a mistake in the first 20 mins and then just backed off.

VDV may not have been a good presser but he influenced games which is more than Sigurdsson and to a lesser extent Dempsey are doing.
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

We only seem to press in the first half anyway. Today was a prime example, we tried to press Wigan into a mistake in the first 20 mins and then just backed off.

VDV may not have been a good presser but he influenced games which is more than Sigurdsson and to a lesser extent Dempsey are doing.

You're right here and i've said it before. Everytime it's not going our way at home in the first half we've dropped off from the pressing game in the second half. The pressing game does not work at the Lane and will never work as it's very easy to counter but he's still not trying something else. I said i like some of the things AVB has done and i'm confident if we tweak a few things at home but it doesn't seem like he want to which is very weird.
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

VDV is old news and wouldn't suit our new pressing game anyway. He'd probably have countless arguments with AV about his lack of pressing which inevitably results in him sitting on the bench.


Sadly true.

I has often heard about his personality, ego and proneness to temper outbursts, but in all fairness, he was a player you'd say was perhaps worth it? He was happy enough to go, but I genuinely think AVB though he was getting Moutinho. There again, it's well known that AVB wants a compliant squad with few ripples of attitude (thus the problems with Ade) when it comes to not being an automatic starter, so who really knows? It's a shame because he's not ripping up trees at Hamburg and he was certainly more often than not an effective performer here...we 'should' remember that we lost at home to Wigan with him around a couple of seasons back, but there's no denying we'd take some guile from anywhere right now, what with Dembele not being around and so on.
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

VDV is old news and wouldn't suit our new pressing game anyway. He'd probably have countless arguments with AV about his lack of pressing which inevitably results in him sitting on the bench.

I don't know about this. A couple of times I saw VDV covered the most ground in matches and these were games when he was substituted after 70 mins as per usual. He's a team player and an intelligent player. I think he would have mucked in enough. I think we'd have more points and be a better team with him in there. There has to be some leeway with players, they're not all going to be AVB robots (well at least not straight away after one transfer window).

Miss VDV to bits.
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

Sadly true.

I has often heard about his personality, ego and proneness to temper outbursts, but in all fairness, he was a player you'd say was perhaps worth it? He was happy enough to go, but I genuinely think AVB though he was getting Moutinho. There again, it's well known that AVB wants a compliant squad with few ripples of attitude (thus the problems with Ade) when it comes to not being an automatic starter, so who really knows? It's a shame because he's not ripping up trees at Hamburg and he was certainly more often than not an effective performer here...we 'should' remember that we lost at home to Wigan with him around a couple of seasons back, but there's no denying we'd take some guile from anywhere right now, what with Dembele not being around and so on.

Actually we lost to Wigan just before he signed at the end of that summer's transfer window but your overall point still stands
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

As a season ticket holder VDV was one of the players i looked forward to going to watch at the Lane. He should have been kept at any cost, he was a class act and still is. Siguardsson or Dempsey together couldnt lace his boots imo. Having let Modric go we should never have sold our second most creative player and someone who could score a goal out of nothing, he also had great versatility.

If we take todays game for example Dembele wasnt fit and then Sandro got injured, VDV could have comfortably slotted into midfield and played next to Hudd instead AVB replaces Sandro with Siguardsson who was woeful.

The midfield today was pathetic, Hudd had a shocker. I thought this was his big game to shine, one he should have stamped his authority on, he was so one paced when we needed more drive from midfield. Please, please, i hope we bring in Mourthino in Jan cause we lack direction in midfield. Even with Dembele fit we need something extra in there.

AVB's 1 upfront seems doomed to failure at the Lane. There was moment in the second half when he took off Defoe and replaced him with Ade and the fans booed the decision. When is he going to learn that this 1 upfront isnt gonna work at home.. I feel it could be his undoing..

Next 5 games look very hard on paper so lets hope we have some better performances in us because we bad..
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

I think its unfair to judge Siggy and Dempseys attempts to play in the VDV role when they that had just Defoe to play off of.
VDV wouldnt have worked playing behind Defoe neither.

VDV was lucky when he arrived he had Crouch to play off of. The current maligned two have been feeding off scraps playing behind Defoe.
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

My take is he wanted to go to Germany but would have stayed happily enough for one more season if asked to. AVB felt he didn't suit his style of play so was happy to let him go and get the money. Levy saw a decent transfer fee, given his age, and a means of boosting AVB's transfer kitty. RvdV got he move bck to Germany where his wide worked/lived. All perfectly reasonable points of view and on their own reasonable decisions.

However, they weren't decisions taken in isolation, leading to several problems. With the team in transition, an experienced player of his quality is very useful. As we had also lost Modric, it was essential that we didn't get rid of all our creative players at once, allowing time for new players to settle in. And in the end we didn't spend the money. That left us short on creative players, short on experience and short a player.

Someone needed to look at the whole picture. If AVB was manager (rather than Head Coach) that would be his responsibility. In a continental set up, that would be the DoF, someone to provide a third opinion when the Head Coach and the money men had different requirements. Unfortunately we don't have either system at the moment and there was lack of an overview. I think it would have been easy to persuade RvdV that he was needed to help the transition, that we couldn't afford to lose him and Modric at the same time, and that we would facilitate his move next year.
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

I guess only Levy, AVB and VDV + Family know the answer to your question.

My feelings are it suited both parties.
I fail to see how it has suited us in any way so far, although soem idiots at our club perhaps thought it would. We miss him badly. Different class than Sigurdsson and Dempsey for sure. I recall quite a few people on this site saying that Sigurdsson would be a better option than Rafa, but that will never happen.

I also don't buy the "Rafa wouldn't have suited our pressing game" argument. Firstly, I can't really see much of a pressing game, and secondly, Rafa was actually decent enough when it came to putting players under pressure when playing behind the striker. He even managed to nick the ball with a tackle quite regurlarly. He sometimes struggled when having to track the full back all the way back when playing on the wing, but there was never a problem with him defensively when playing in his favoured role. He was also actually a hard-working player who always gave his all. Yes, he sometimes tired after 70 minutes or so, but at least he did something while he was out there. I'd rather have a player who does that than players who can do fudge all for 90 minutes.
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

We miss him. Sig will never fill his boots

I have to assume this was never the intention. Sig was signed to play a different way and with an eye to the future.

So the comparison is unfair. One, its a comparison with a world class player who fitted into our system with a young player trying to fit into a new (or slightly new) system. Two, the new system is still not fully functional. Three, we don't know, but Sig could develop into a world class player. If he does the team will adapt to his strengths rather than those of an ex-player.
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

On the face of it, it's very much a deal that suits all parties I'd be surprised if its anything more than that.

VDV gets to bail out of WHL while still a hero, still top man. Age isn't on his side, and probably isn't ideal for a fast paced game. Fee is reasonable enough for him to command a decent wage.

AVB doesn't have the added pressure of having to keep another senior pro happy, one who doesn't quite suit his game. Also another big character in the dressing room he doesn't have to charm.

THFC get good money for an asset.

Hamburg get a top player for a good price.

Mrs VDV gets to go home.

While I don't doubt we could do with his quality I dread to think how he would fare within our ability to only play for 70 minutes!
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

VDV is old news and wouldn't suit our new pressing game anyway. He'd probably have countless arguments with AV about his lack of pressing which inevitably results in him sitting on the bench.

Pressing game? What fudging pressing game? All I saw today was a team chasing shadows! I really want us to stop tslking about Avb as though he has a certain way of playing. He relies on big players to do special things, just like he did at Porto.
We are missing key players and its starting to show. That's all
 
Re: VdV - what was the story?

Pressing game? What fudging pressing game? All I saw today was a team chasing shadows! I really want us to stop tslking about Avb as though he has a certain way of playing. He relies on big players to do special things, just like he did at Porto.
We are missing key players and its starting to show. That's all

Agreed. VDV has gone. Get over it peeps.
 
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