Virgil Van Dijk

[No2]

Brighton signed Danny Welbeck today so we must be allowed to pick up out of contract players. List is bleak enough as you would imagine, Mariappa at Watford is available. He always struck me as capable, he's 35 though. We need someone though, wouldn't surprise me if Matip was injured before Tuesday.

[dockers_strike]

Out of contract players are out of contract because nobody wants them. Virgil's going to miss games, it's just a question of how many.

 

We'll soldier through until the next window and buy someone if he's out for most of the season.

[Mathewbet1]

Pickfords tackle was that of a desperate player knowing his days are numbered at the top level, well at least he's confirmed his legend status across the park before he leaves. Chicken armed Twat.

[Supremolad]

11 minutes ago, dockers_strike said:

Out of contract players are out of contract because nobody wants them. Virgil's going to miss games, it's just a question of how many.

 

We'll soldier through until the next window and buy someone if he's out for most of the season.

We did take on Adrian when he was out of contract. It's not like we've never done it under Klopp. Although, some would say "look how that worked out".

[Lee909]

Don't think we see him again this season so someone will need signed in January. Preferably that French lad in Germany. 

 

Anyway I'd look at a slight changed of system with this. Go 4-2-3-1 and get a Fabinho/Hendo and Thiago playing as the two and drop Bobby back to the 10 and another forward in, Salah up to and Jota or Miamino up top. 

[Supremolad]

2 hours ago, KMD7 said:

Its not like Pickford hasn't form for this either. Remember his tackle on Delle Ali before?  He needs a lengthy retrospective ban for this 

Agree that he needs a ban but I'm sure Everton and Ancelotti would probably be delighted to have him out of the team. He has been shite for them over a long period. Fumbled that Henderson shot into the net yesterday, so lucky VAR came to his rescue.

[Pidge]

19 minutes ago, Mathewbet1 said:

Pickfords tackle was that of a desperate player knowing his days are numbered at the top level, well at least he's confirmed his legend status across the park before he leaves. Chicken armed Twat.

When's he played at the top level?

[3 Stacks]

4 minutes ago, Lee909 said:

Don't think we see him again this season so someone will need signed in January. Preferably that French lad in Germany. 

 

Anyway I'd look at a slight changed of system with this. Go 4-2-3-1 and get a Fabinho/Hendo and Thiago playing as the two and drop Bobby back to the 10 and another forward in, Salah up to and Jota or Miamino up top. 

I have a feeling he won't miss the whole season, but looking at it positively, there's things we can do to mitigate his absence. Our defending has been bad with him in the team recently anyway, so there's definitely structural things we can do to improve. We can defend a bit deeper, play more on the counter. We need Alisson and Thiago, though. Those three can't all be out. 

[Nolongerathletic]

1 hour ago, dave u said:

 

We must have been stood right by eachother. I was right by it. Stood at the very front, right in line with where it happened. I didn't even notice at first and then my mate screamed out "eeeee look at his leg!" and then I saw it. Barely watched the rest of the game as I felt sick.

From what I recall that tackle wasn’t as bad as those two yesterday but it was deliberate!! Those two yesterday were not tackles..how Thiago got up is unreal and notthing from that brain dead prick Richarlison! 

 

Think Stevens went to the hospital afterwards to visit Beglin, to ease his conscience apparently against the advice of Kenny I think.

Ancelotti can do one also...he sent that lot out yesterday to kick like fuck..Allan amazingly only picked up a yellow in the 84th minute!!

[dockers_strike]

31 minutes ago, Supremolad said:

We did take on Adrian when he was out of contract. It's not like we've never done it under Klopp. Although, some would say "look how that worked out".

Good point!

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

We need to go 453.

[Section_31]

Sami to come out of retirement. 

 

[Leyton388]

Absolute comical that we never signed a replacement for Lovren in the summer and now we're in this mess.

[Anubis]

3 hours ago, Geoff Woade said:

People are forgetting the Funes Mori simpleton and his attack on Origi. I maintain that set him back years, he was in unreal form until that happened

And Stevens on Beglin.

[Section_31]

Is he getting this scan done on the NHS or what? Answers needed here. 

[TheHowieLama]

As others have said, I did my ACL and walked around for a couple of weeks before getting the surgery. The impact VvD had is exactly what pops an ACL. 

 

 

There is no doubt Robbo tripped him purposely.

[dockers_strike]

9 minutes ago, Section_31 said:

Is he getting this scan done on the NHS or what? Answers needed here. 

All private.

[Section_31]

3 minutes ago, dockers_strike said:

All private.

It was a shit joke about how long we've been waiting for news. 

[FrenchEyeGlass]

Just hoping beyond hope he is not out for long.

 

I hope he's just jarred his knee and will be back in a month or so, and we tell the whole world its 8 months out. Then he just emerges like Dwayne fucking Johnson and lays the smackdown on everyone's candy asses.

[dockers_strike]

18 minutes ago, Section_31 said:

It was a shit joke about how long we've been waiting for news. 

It went over my head. Soz.

[Butch]

We've got lots of options in midfield, matip "if he can stay fit" and fab would be my choice. 

[J-V]

51 minutes ago, Leyton388 said:

Absolute comical that we never signed a replacement for Lovren in the summer and now we're in this mess.

Unless we were prepared to spend an absolute fortune (we were not) or got very lucky finiding a top class CB for cheap we'd be in a mess regardless.  You can't replace the best CB in the World to get the next best would cost £60m+ in koulibaly.

[Ronnie Whelan]

4 minutes ago, Butch said:

We've got lots of options in midfield, matip "if he can stay fit" and fab would be my choice. 

Agree with that. Gini, Hendo and Milly as well are going to be extra important in some of those shitty tight away games. If ever there was a time for Joe Gomez to return to form, it's now. Matip is absolute class. I'd let him be our Paul McGrath and just play in games and just do a few laps and take a few shots in training. Fabinho is a wonderful player, thank god he is so versatile.

[Strontium]

Matip and Gomez are both made out of crisps, our back two for most of the season is shaping up to be Fabinho and van den Berg, quite clearly.

[Jairzinho]

I can't find much criticism for the club over the centre backs. VVD is the best in the world, whatever the cover him being out would weaken us considerably. In Matip and Gomez we have excellent centre backs. Sadly, both are injury prone but we can't have six "first team" centre backs just because that's the case. I'd imagine long term we're going to have to make a decision on one or both of them. But Fabinho is very good there. Phillips is 23, has played in the German second tier which is a pretty decent level. I think against ale house sides, alongside Matip or Fabinho, he wouldn't be an appalling option. We'll probably need to change some things tactically but, as others have said, we've been pretty poor defensively with VVD in the side so needed to make some tactical changes anyway. 

 

The keeper situation is a much bigger problem. Adrian and Karius should have been binned in the summer, and a decent back up signed. Yes, no-one is going to be as good as Alisson, but there is a fucking huge ability gap between what we could have and what we do have.

 

Alisson and VVD out is going to chuck us back into the pack to some degree, I reckon. There doesn't appear to be a stand out team in the league. Could have four, five or even six teams within a dozen points by the end of the season, and 85 points might win the league.