Nigel de Jong

[scottish born chelsea blue]

after reading the papers noticed that de jong could be out his way of city and i thought he was great last season surely we could buy him to anchor our midfield he was great there for city

its just a thought wot do use think

he would probably cum farely cheap

[Hutch]

he would probably cum farely cheap

so you're saying he could be the new Ben Dover

[dkw]

Very good player, not sure if we need him though, especially at the price City will want for him. Was a very strange signing for City though, paid over the odds for him only 6 months before his contract ran out and now they are getting rid.

[Eggy McMuffin]

so you're saying he could be the new Ben Dover

Ben Dover's son is the eldest in Outnumbered. Trufax.

Edited June 27, 2010 by Eggy McMuffin

[scottish born chelsea blue]

if we r going to play a diamond formation we need a holding midfielder essiens waisted there and obi just cant cut it

[BigIzz]

if we r going to play a diamond formation we need a holding midfielder essiens waisted there and obi just cant cut it

I agree but I doubt we see the diamond again anytime soon.

[Ruh Buh Juh]

Ben Dover's son is the eldest in Outnumbered. Trufax.

Blimey, it is actually true. Only someone with a name like Ben Dover would name their kid "Tyger-Drew". Though Tyger would probably be better than Phil McCrackin.

[Mikstaw]

He's good player. I'd like to see him in Chelsea.

[Ruh Buh Juh]

He's good player. I'd like to see him in Chelsea.

He's okay. He's very strong, I think his prowess is his tackling as opposed to his passing ability, and that's what we're looking for in a holding player, who can dispossess the opposition, and then set up a possible counter attack. Essien can do that thanks to his driving force of play, and Mikel is a great passer of the ball, so rather than running forward, he can spread it wide to Malouda or Ashley and they can spring an attack from there. He does look a good player, but he can be very rash in the tackles.

[Mikstaw]

OK. I agree. I think that strong players are very good for Chelsea. He's skills of tackling are very high!

[Eggy McMuffin]

Blimey, it is actually true. Only someone with a name like Ben Dover would name their kid "Tyger-Drew". Though Tyger would probably be better than Phil McCrackin.

Isn't Drew his last name? His wife's last name being Honey, and the kid being Tyger Honey-Drew?

[Ruh Buh Juh]

Isn't Drew his last name? His wife's last name being Honey, and the kid being Tyger Honey-Drew?

Yep, you're right, it's Honey-Drew. But still, the first name Tyger is enough to suggest future star...though not in TV, if you catch my drift.

[Castiel]

Thread resurrection!

No evidence that we're interested but I'm hearing that he's on his way out. Obviously out of favour there and there have been concerns here that we'll be lacking some midfield muscle, which he certainly provides. Maybe City would do a Real type clear out of players like this on the cheap to cut the wage bill down a bit. If we had him, sold Mikel (AVB isn't using him) then with Romeu we'd have two different but top class DMC's. If Essien's future isn't bright, he could even do a job replacing him in a defensive capacity.

[gee]

I've always rated him, he would be a great signing. As long as he didn't stand in the way of Oriol.

[wxwax]

A bit dirty for my taste.

[Eggy McMuffin]

I don't think DM is where we need to be signing players, unless AVB's version of the Romeu deal was a bluff I think we've got that position sorted. Romeu is only going to get better with more games and more interestingly is that Mikel has seemed more determined when he's had time. It could be interesting to see if they could push one another to the next level.

There are more important positions to go for right now for me. Even if we go the 2 holding players in a 4-2-3-1, I think De Jong and Romeu would be too defensive a pairing.

[rahul]

No...our immediate priorities lie elsewhere.

[The Moos]

Unless we can find the second coming of Makelele we should not buy any defensive midfielders. We have Mikel and Romeu and if they can't play there's Ramires and Meireles and soon Essien as well. Bet Luiz could step up and play there as well.

Only think De Jong could bring here would be roughness. He's a bit dirty sometimes.

[mad_mac]

No...our immediate priorities lie elsewhere.

Agreed, he is a good player but there are other areas we should be focusing on.

[Tim W]

Wasn't he president of North Korea

[abramovich]

If we talk about defensive midfielders, I'd rather have Tiote.

In any case, we desperately lack creativity in midfield. De Jong won't help in that department.

Edited December 30, 2011 by abramovich

[icecoolguy22]

I wouldn't mind him, we need a scary guy in the midfield these days. A big improvement over mikel that's for sure.

[Yaotzin]

He's sort of like Mikel in that he offers the square root of nothing in possession, and isn't as amazing defensively as someone needs to be to make up for that. Top teams can't afford to carry purely defensive midfielders anymore; they all play with guys who can pass - Busquets, Carrick, Alonso, even Barry. This trend is even creeping into centre backs - you have to contribute in possession as well.

[MrSkyBlue]

Nige is still very highly rated at City and i can pretty much guarantee he is going nowhere. The media will jump on any City player who isn't starting every week and say how they will be gone soon, it's nonesense though. He also loves it at City and along with Hart, Richards and Johnson, Nige is the main joker in the pack. It's the same thing you hear about Adam Johnson every week. "he doesn't get enough games", "he'll be gone soon"... None of it is true.

Besides, Yaya is off to the pointless cup of Nations this month, we need all the steel we can get, Talks of us bringing in De Rossi too.

[Eggy McMuffin]

He's sort of like Mikel in that he offers the square root of nothing in possession, and isn't as amazing defensively as someone needs to be to make up for that. Top teams can't afford to carry purely defensive midfielders anymore; they all play with guys who can pass - Busquets, Carrick, Alonso, even Barry. This trend is even creeping into centre backs - you have to contribute in possession as well.

That's not quite accurate though. Lass at Real for example doesn't exactly offer much in possession. Carrick barely offers more than Mikel, either. Busquets is a good passer, but he's more the exception than the rule. Putting Alonso in there is like putting Xavi or Pirlo in.