How will your team line-up now?
- Thread starter Stag
- Start date
GK: Schwarzer
DL: Salcido
DC: Hangeland
DC: Hughes
DR: Pantsil
AML: Duff
MC: Etuhu
MC: Murphy
AMR: Davies
ST: Zamora
ST: Dembele
SUBS: Stockdale, Kelly, Riise, Dempsey, Gera, Halliche, Baird
The wings are the only thing never confirmed as it's out of Duff/Davies/Dempsey/Gera and Riise. Oddly we haven't included Zuberbuhler in our 25, so not sure what's happening there. So it'll be Etheridge or someone to cover.
DL: Salcido
DC: Hangeland
DC: Hughes
DR: Pantsil
AML: Duff
MC: Etuhu
MC: Murphy
AMR: Davies
ST: Zamora
ST: Dembele
SUBS: Stockdale, Kelly, Riise, Dempsey, Gera, Halliche, Baird
The wings are the only thing never confirmed as it's out of Duff/Davies/Dempsey/Gera and Riise. Oddly we haven't included Zuberbuhler in our 25, so not sure what's happening there. So it'll be Etheridge or someone to cover.
At home against a very defensive side, you'll get away with it. Against decent sides, away from home or in Europe in particular, it's a massive gamble.
If you were to set-up in that system, Palacios would be a far better option than Huddlestone.
Caporegime
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Agreed. It's going to be tough to shoehorn VdV into the system. One way or another, there's going to be talent going to waste on the bench.
For £8m though, we'd have been stupid not to nab him.
If you compare Huddlestone to how he was even 2 years ago he is a very different player in certain respects.
He was always capable of a defence splitting pass with either feet, but in the past couple of years he has lost some of the sheer muscle he was carrying and is now more mobile and gets box to box much more. He's still not the quickest of players but he gets about and works hard.
Caporegime
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Hasn't VdV basically been available for a few seasons now? Thought they were trying to offload him last summer as well.
He wouldn't get a game at Real with their summer acquisitions and Real are heavily in debt.
His 48 goals in 116 games while at Hamburg suggests otherwise. He never replicated such a strike rate while at Real, but he certainly wasn't terrible.
Depends how you measure players achievements. In 20 years time when people look back at a player like Gerrard will people say he never got on from when he was 25, because he won sod all afterwards?
Good to see Hargreaves in there.
United didn't use up their full 25 man quota. There was no reason not to select him in the squad.
As Shami says, Real have been trying to get rid of him for a while but there has been no takers until now.
As for the rest of your post; I didn't say he was a bad player but he certainly hasn't lived up to the reputation he's got.
He done well at Hamburg but you've got to take into account the standard of the League; the German League's been in decline for the last 10 years and was particularly poor the season's VDV was there.
His first big test was at Real and he managed 12 goals in 70 games.
He's not a bad player and ~£8m is about right for him. He certainly not the great bargain some are making him out to be though.
Depends what reputation that is, if that he is one of the best players in the world then maybe you have a point.
I thought the German league if anything has actually been improving the last 10 years, in fact in UEFA's coefficients it is now ranked above Italy.
Don't just judge a player on their goals, take Modric who is a similar player but has only 6 goals in 60 league games for Spurs. Yet his contribution to the team is huge.
If we had done a survey a week ago, I imagine most supporters on here would have bit someone's hand off for getting VDV for £8m.
As I said, £8m is probably about right for him. Decent signing but not the bargain of the century.
Soldato
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- 8 Mar 2003
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- Location
- Hobbiton
How many supporters on here would have said no thanks, if your team was about to sign VDV for £8m? Now how many are lying? 
