Jan Vertonghen

[braineclipse]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

Caulker's clearing header was appalling. Gallas was caught on his heels but maybe that was because he expected Caulker to clear it more comfortably than he did.

He was caught on his heels. He let his man run past him (leaving Caulker in a 2 v one situation). He wasn't paying attention to what was happening around him.

He would have been just as caught on his heels and would have left his man just as much regardless of where Caulker headed the ball. There's just no causal link between the two.

It wasn't an easy header for Caulker to make, not at all a easy ball to head back to the goalie or sideways to anyone, but a QPR player. He tried to head it down to where Gallas was heading, but Gallas completely stopped.

 

[onlyme]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

Just watched MOTD 2 and was impressed by JV going forward. He struggled a bit in his first couple of games. Love the guy because he blanked Arse for us. What is there not to like about this guy?

 

[SubZero]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

If that does happen, we'll find someone else and we'll move on. We had Berbatov, he was an incredible player, he left and then we had Modric, an incredible player and he left and now we have Vertonghen, an incredible player and he left. Thankfully, at the moment we have both Vertonghen and Lloris and so to have 2 players of that calibre playing in our team is continuing the increase from last season, when we had Modric and VDV and if we keep doing that, and adding a top player then in the end we will have a team half full of top, top players achieving more than we have before, when we have a new stadium and so improved finances, and ultimately it can contribute to potential longer term success.

For the moment, I'm just going to enjoy watching a player of Vertonghen's calibre playing for our club and hope that he stays for as long as possible. In hindsight, I'm amazed that we had a relatively clear path towards signing him and that he was so keen to join us. :O He could have played for Barcelona and wouldn't be looking out of place.

We have struggled and are still struggling to replace Berbatov to this day, and unless we can do some magic we will struggle to replace Modric too. I don't disagree with you at all, but it's always one step forward, one step back it seems.

 

[SubZero]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

I've been delighted with what I've seen so far but let's not get carried away. It doesn't feel like it because we have rarely played well, but we haven't really played a team yet that I'd say was better than us and therefore really tested out defence with constant pressure. If Verts can carry this sort of performance against the likes of Utd, Chelsea, City and Arsenal THEN we can say he is playing at such a level.

Maybe a little bit carried away, but I like to think I know a great footballer when I see one. I have been known to be wrong occationally though, last time as recently as the late 80's. Oh, and Dean Marney.

 

[El Guepardo]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

We can't naturally replace them with a player as good as them, if we could there's a chance that the club who bought Berbatov/Modric etc would have simply gone out and purchased that exact player. Instead the team evolves and we bring in a different player and try to push for success in a different manner, whether through conceding less ultimately with Lloris and Vertonghen or scoring more Berbatov etc... the team doesn't have to regress, yes we failed to effectively replace Berbatov and yet we still achieved 4th place twice in his absence. I think the same is true this season of Modric and Van Der Vaart leaving and so we are looking at the likes of Dembele, Sigurdsson, Dempsey and the two previously named to stand up and be counted and help us adopt a new approach which will bring us success in spite of the absence of Modric & VDV.

I hope some of that makes sense as I'm tired and wanted a quick but thorough reply.

 

[SubZero]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

We can't naturally replace them with a player as good as them, if we could there's a chance that the club who bought Berbatov/Modric etc would have simply gone out and purchased that exact player. Instead the team evolves and we bring in a different player and try to push for success in a different manner, whether through conceding less ultimately with Lloris and Vertonghen or scoring more Berbatov etc... the team doesn't have to regress, yes we failed to effectively replace Berbatov and yet we still achieved 4th place twice in his absence. I think the same is true this season of Modric and Van Der Vaart leaving and so we are looking at the likes of Dembele, Sigurdsson, Dempsey and the two previously named to stand up and be counted and help us adopt a new approach which will bring us success in spite of the absence of Modric & VDV.

I hope some of that makes sense as I'm tired and wanted a quick but thorough reply.

Good post. On a positive note, I think a well organized centre back pairing is the mainstay of any successful team, Baresi/Costacurta, Pallister/Bruce or dare I say even Adams/Bould. We had something good going but injuries and treachery put an effective stop to that. We can hopefully build something like that around Verthongen.

Yes still a bit carried away, but feck it!

 

[Shropshire Yid]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

Said it before and will say it again, come Decemeber 2013, people all over England will be raving about this fella! Top draw

 

[El Guepardo]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

Said it before and will say it again, come Decemeber 2013, people all over England will be raving about this fella! Top draw

What makes you say that? His success with Porto? There is as much reason, at the moment, to think that come December 2013 that he won't be at our club. I hope he turns it around and, if he does, I will eat my words and admit that my early perception of him was wrong.

 

[Notmegov]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

What makes you say that? His success with Porto? There is as much reason, at the moment, to think that come December 2013 that he won't be at our club. I hope he turns it around and, if he does, I will eat my words and admit that my early perception of him was wrong.

Erm considering this is in the Jan Vertonghen thread i presume he is talking about him rather than AVB

 

[El Guepardo]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

Ah, my bad.... I've only just got up and so I think my head needs to be knocked against a few walls before I start to see sense.

I can totally understand the Vertonghen love in, he is the real hero that we've brought in and I've lavished enough praise about him that anyone else would think that my computer would resemble a painter's radiator.

 

[Robbo]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

Jan Vertonghen is easily our best purchase of the summer.

He's going to be so good for us. I was very worried we would struggle at the back with King gone, Gallas a year older and Dawson out with a long term injury, but Vertonghen has made me forget all about that already.

Big thumbs up for Caulker as well, with him, Kaboul and Vertonghen, we should have our centre backs wrapped up for years.

 

[harr1984]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

What makes you say that? His success with Porto? There is as much reason, at the moment, to think that come December 2013 that he won't be at our club. I hope he turns it around and, if he does, I will eat my words and admit that my early perception of him was wrong.

Yeah we've had an awful start to the season haven't we....

 

[diego_maradona]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

He did let Zamora go for their goal though.

 

[El Guepardo]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

Yeah we've had an awful start to the season haven't we....

Considering the fixtures that we have had, yes we have. We shouldn't be dropping points at home to either Norwich or WBA. I know that in the real World teams do drop points to those teams but to then say that it's not an awful start when we could have had 6 points and be nearer the top of the table, which we should have been with our fixtures, is not right. An awful start is down to perception and isn't necessarily collecting 0 points out of 5 games but collecting less points than we ought to have realistically done.

 

[El Guepardo]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

He did let Zamora go for their goal though.

But Walker was more at fault for playing Zamora onside.

 

[indianspur]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

i thought Verts had done his cruciate after that awkward tackle with Hoillet in the first half. His foot got caught in the ground and the knee had nowhere to go. looked nasty but he ran it off

The guy is superman

 

[harr1984]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

Considering the fixtures that we have had, yes we have. We shouldn't be dropping points at home to either Norwich or WBA. I know that in the real World teams do drop points to those teams but to then say that it's not an awful start when we could have had 6 points and be nearer the top of the table, which we should have been with our fixtures, is not right. An awful start is down to perception and isn't necessarily collecting 0 points out of 5 games but collecting less points than we ought to have realistically done.

I don't really care who we've played, I feared our transition period would be worse than us langusihing a solitary point behind Arsenal who have apparently had a great start. We've lost one game this season, to call it awful is exaggerating no matter what way you look at it. Anyways, wrong thread to discuss this so apologies for going off topic.....

 

[AdamB]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

We have struggled and are still struggling to replace Berbatov to this day, and unless we can do some magic we will struggle to replace Modric too. I don't disagree with you at all, but it's always one step forward, one step back it seems.

Personally, I dont think that Dembele is adding much less than Modric did. Just a shame that he missed hte first two and a half games. The combination of Dembele's close control and his strength makes him an incredibly difficult man to dispossess. He probably keeps play ticking over less well than Modric did but adds more in terms of drive from midfield.

Our real issue this season has been that the one playing off the CF (ie mainly Siggy but partially Dempsey) has yet to contribute anything at all

 

[AdamB]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

Personally, I dont think that Dembele is adding much less than Modric did. Just a shame that he missed hte first two and a half games. The combination of Dembele's close control and his strength makes him an incredibly difficult man to dispossess. He probably keeps play ticking over less well than Modric did but adds more in terms of drive from midfield.

Our real issue this season has been that the one playing off the CF (ie mainly Siggy but partially Dempsey) has yet to contribute anything at all

Sorry but to add: Dembele Vertonghan and Lloris I believe will all look like outstanding signings by the end of the year, as will Adebayor. Also believe JV will be our captain by the end of the year. Jury still out on siggy and Dempsey

 

[harr1984]

Re: Jan Vertonghen official

Personally, I dont think that Dembele is adding much less than Modric did. Just a shame that he missed hte first two and a half games. The combination of Dembele's close control and his strength makes him an incredibly difficult man to dispossess. He probably keeps play ticking over less well than Modric did but adds more in terms of drive from midfield.

Our real issue this season has been that the one playing off the CF (ie mainly Siggy but partially Dempsey) has yet to contribute anything at all

And he wins a hell of a lot of tackles too. Didn't his tackle start off the move that Defoe scored from yesterday?