I hope VDW continues to impress, this will only bolster his price tag even more. FdB knows what he's doing with Greg.
It only will increase if he moves in January. I can't see anyone pay too much based on today's match, though he was very good (NEC was horrible).
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at the starting XI. I was already anticipating Blind in defense and Janssen at DM.
Telegraaf (one of the most reliable sources of information when it comes to Dutch football news) reporting that Moisander is now undergoing medical examinations and will be signed for a bit more than 3 million.
^thanks for the update. This is the one transfer that makes sense to me and that price seems reasonable. I still am concerned about the striker position given Sigthorsson's injure problems but I guess there are no cheap solutions out there.
That's a very good price considering people assumed AZ would stick with their 5/6m valuation. I wonder if Maher really is 8/9m, we should've put in an inquiry or maybe we already did? Armenteros scored a great header against AZ over the weekend how funny would it be if both him and his marker that game were to be teammates in few days/weeks time.
Personally I don't think that much of Maher relative to Clasie. Maher was pretty much absent in the match with us last weekend and showed a very poor first touch in the NT match against Belgium. Just my gut feeling.
But have you seen him against Heracles though? Good to see that the attack started with Moisander, hopefully we'll see that a lot for Ajax! When looking for that video on youtube I was reminded by this peach of a goal from Maher against Heracles last season. Altidore's reaction says it all.
I rate Maher higher than any Dutch talent on midfield right now, be it Clasie, Ginkel or anyone else. He's a very complete player and reminds me of Davids. He has grit, he has plenty of technique, and most importantly of all, he has vision. He sees the spaces. And knows what to do with those spaces both offensively and defensively. Clasie had plenty vision and technique as well but is physically inferior. Van Ginkel has perhaps the most technique of them all but I question his wits. Chooses the difficult option way too often imo.
I have only seen the highlights of this weekends games but I did like they way I saw him play in the highlights. There are few things I hate more than central defenders passing to the backs in the build up. There is nothing a back can do in build-up. Central defenders need to pass forwards, to the midfielders or forwards, and if necessary dribble up there too. I saw Van Rhijn passing to the backs way too often. Mind you that's just a matter of education really. I'm skeptical about the signing since the money is practically evaporated. It's unlikely that we'll ever make a profit on him or will be able to sell him at all. And it's possible he's going to stand in the way of Denswil. But we'll see.
I hope you are both right about Maher. We'll see how he does this season with AZ and the NT. Regarding Moisander, bringing in anyone as a stopgap measure is a risk both financially and in terms of player development within academy players. I bring up the following two players who prove this to be true: Wielaert and Oleguer. Neither really brought much to the club and cost us money in the end.
If Moisander turns out to be like Wielaert or Oleguer then of course this deal is just wasted money. Time will tell but what I see right now is that he was part of the only defense that did better in the goals against category then Ajax last season. If he helps solidify the defense for a couple seasons, allows Denswil (who just turned 19) to slowly work his way into the first team and keeps us in the CL then that €3 million investment starts to make a lot of sense.
I still would have preferred Viergever, Muniesa or Fontas, but out of the other names we were linked with (Nuytinck, Raijkovic), I suppose Moisander is the best option. Jong Ajax is playing right now and from what I'm reading, Boccara is once again playing really well. I hope Frank promotes him and Sporkslede to the first team and lets them duke it out this year instead of signing someone who will just stand in their way.
Still 0 - 0. Gino has finally replaced Mickey in the 60th minute so hopefully we'll see a goal or 2 from him.
good signing. We desperately needed an experienced CB. Now it'll be interesting to see what happens with van Rhijn. I imagine he'll get a lot of time around the back line. I think it's time to loan out Daley Blind. BTW I wonder who will take Anita's number now? IMO it should go to Boilesen, but who knows what he'll be like when he returns
Fischer was okay, but not at his very best. No wait scratch that, he was dissapointing because we know he can do so much better lol. Boccara impressive once again. Mickey still chubby and Ebecilio has lost it, literally. He's mediocre at best atm. I think Gino should start the next game and not Lorenzo.
The couple of times I saw Ebecilio in the pre-season he looked 5kg overweight. Sulejmani had a weight problem a couple of years ago and I hope his extra weight is because he hasn't been able to train properly.