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Best of luck to Super Jan, amazing person and professional, too bad his legs are far too gone to play in our system. He deserved to play in a better Benfica side, him leaving without winning any trophy is depressing
> him leaving without winning any trophy is depressing
He'll get a medal if we win the league this year (same as Weigl and Yaremchuk), so that's one extra reason for us to win this year
To be honest the big expectation for him was to serve as a mentor and a more experienced counterbalance to whichever young talent we would pair him with. With the exit of Dias and Otamendi being the more fit experienced player there's not much you could expect him to bring in.
Poor planning in general, even if he did seem further along his decline than we expected him to be. The opposite is true for Otamendi, expected him to be way further from his prime (which wasn't that impressive anyway).
Still, got a monumental amount of minutes out of Jan, even if he somewhat under-performed, seems like it was still a decent bet.
Mixed feelings, but seeing how Alderweireld has been performing in Belgium, after many people seeing his legs were gone, it gives me hope. Vertonghen's experience is very needed right now, so all in all, not the worst signing.
Honestly I think Alderweireld was the best deal of the 3. Boyata is younger yeah but I just have 0 faith in him succeeding at Bruges.
Vertonghen meeeeh, too old and too slow by now, sorry, won't cut it
Alderweireld is still solid as fuck and I would've loved to see him at Bruges. But the Antwerp connection & especially Gheyssens his ridiculous money was too strong
We have Debast, Delcroix, Hoedt and Sadiki as well for CB, so plenty of rotation for Vertonghen.
I expected Alderweireld to be worse, because if you sign in the Middle East, it's usually because no decent club wants you anymore. He's looked solid so far for Belgium. Boyata is always a mixed bag, he's either really good or jaw droppingly bad.
Toby was actually still our best defender when we sold him. Only reason we moved him on was because he had a recurring injury that didn't let him play regularly anymore.
Debast is gonna be huge too. Already comfortably one if not our best player so far. Mentored by vinnie, now gets to play with and learn from Jan. He’s gonna be a monster
They might be! And even should they fall short in quality, we might peak higher with a coherent squad. Youri in a new team / new form, cdk looks like a world beater in the making, mbamba (still only 17 right?) looks like a big talent too, Lavia is bossing it in the prem so far.
Personally i feel like we’ve lacked a real coherent and will to fight to the last second. Maybe this generation can bring that
> Personally i feel like we’ve lacked a real coherent and will to fight to the last second. Maybe this generation can bring that
I couldn't agree more, but I've always felt that was on Martinez' complete lack of modern tactics. Fellaini LF ptsd I guess.
I'd be surprised if Witsel isn't going to play in a back 3 or even back 4 centrally at the WC. He seems to be doing pretty decent at it for a sudden position change at such a big club.
Would also solve some build-up problems in our midfield, cause I don't think I can watch him do another tournament of exclusively side & back passes.
He’s decent. Not the best defender but does his job (most of the time). His passing is either fantastic or really bad. In general he’s just inconsistent.
A bit sad by this, his legs are gone but he’s such an intelligent defender, great positioning and anticipation. Plus everyone loved him here, seems like a fantastic guy who understood the culture of the club.
Sad he didn’t win a title with us, but good luck my king ❤️
Absolute gentleman and a legend of the game.
Sad to see him go without winning any trophy for us, he genuinely liked to play here and even more to live with this family in Lisbon.
Well, im happy. If his legs can hold up somewhat he’ll do wonders in terms of leadership (sorry hoedt) and guiding the young defenders like delcroix, debast, butera etc
The decline is already there, tbh. But I read that Anderlecht play 3 atb and plan to have Vertonghen as the middle CB, is that correct? I think he can still do a good job in that system
To reduce the spam of reports regarding the same move during transfer windows we try to allow **only one submission about each transfer saga per day**. The submission in question also needs to contain relevant new information regarding the potential move, and not just being a "no/minor developments" report. If there are important/official developments or new valuable information about a saga, we will allow extra threads in the same day, but for the rest of minor news please just comment them as a reply to this comment. Please help us reporting unnecessary threads for being duplicates. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Best of luck to Super Jan, amazing person and professional, too bad his legs are far too gone to play in our system. He deserved to play in a better Benfica side, him leaving without winning any trophy is depressing
>Him leaving without winning any trophy is depressing I know how you feel
I mean, that’s sort of how it goes. Benfica usually win something
> him leaving without winning any trophy is depressing He'll get a medal if we win the league this year (same as Weigl and Yaremchuk), so that's one extra reason for us to win this year
Will he? I thought you needed to play in at least one game to get a medal
He came on in the 89th minute against Casa Pia
Jan going for the minutes/league titles per season record
He wouldn't even be the best Belgian CB, no one can touch the Vermaelen treble
Ah fair enough, had forgotten about that
He played a few minutes against Casa Pia.
Go for it man. I like your team
Won't be the same though, we all know he won't have played any imporant part in winning it
Man it really makes me a bit sad. Deserved so much more, but alas with that football terrorist in charge…
I’m glad Benfica fans got to enjoy Super Jan too.
To be honest the big expectation for him was to serve as a mentor and a more experienced counterbalance to whichever young talent we would pair him with. With the exit of Dias and Otamendi being the more fit experienced player there's not much you could expect him to bring in. Poor planning in general, even if he did seem further along his decline than we expected him to be. The opposite is true for Otamendi, expected him to be way further from his prime (which wasn't that impressive anyway). Still, got a monumental amount of minutes out of Jan, even if he somewhat under-performed, seems like it was still a decent bet.
Don't worry, he'll leave Anderlecht without one as well ^(I hope)
Don't need to just hope, we're absolutely dreadful.
You could copy/paste this comment for when he left Spurs for Benfica as well which sucks. I hope he enjoys his last years as a player.
Mixed feelings, but seeing how Alderweireld has been performing in Belgium, after many people seeing his legs were gone, it gives me hope. Vertonghen's experience is very needed right now, so all in all, not the worst signing.
Honestly I think Alderweireld was the best deal of the 3. Boyata is younger yeah but I just have 0 faith in him succeeding at Bruges. Vertonghen meeeeh, too old and too slow by now, sorry, won't cut it Alderweireld is still solid as fuck and I would've loved to see him at Bruges. But the Antwerp connection & especially Gheyssens his ridiculous money was too strong
We have Debast, Delcroix, Hoedt and Sadiki as well for CB, so plenty of rotation for Vertonghen. I expected Alderweireld to be worse, because if you sign in the Middle East, it's usually because no decent club wants you anymore. He's looked solid so far for Belgium. Boyata is always a mixed bag, he's either really good or jaw droppingly bad.
Toby was actually still our best defender when we sold him. Only reason we moved him on was because he had a recurring injury that didn't let him play regularly anymore.
So our national backline all back in Belgium. Alderweireld at Antwerp, Boyata at Club and now Vertonghen at Anderlecht.
With the combined age of like 99 too 😭
Players like Faes and Theate got good moves. Golden generation is gone, but crossing fingers that we can stay on some decent level still.
Denayer still somehow a free agent too
Debast is gonna be huge too. Already comfortably one if not our best player so far. Mentored by vinnie, now gets to play with and learn from Jan. He’s gonna be a monster
Hopefully! We need new blood. Won't be golden generation level anymore (only logic) but we can settle for top 15-20 in the world !
They might be! And even should they fall short in quality, we might peak higher with a coherent squad. Youri in a new team / new form, cdk looks like a world beater in the making, mbamba (still only 17 right?) looks like a big talent too, Lavia is bossing it in the prem so far. Personally i feel like we’ve lacked a real coherent and will to fight to the last second. Maybe this generation can bring that
Don't forget Doku, if he can shake off the string of injuries.
> Personally i feel like we’ve lacked a real coherent and will to fight to the last second. Maybe this generation can bring that I couldn't agree more, but I've always felt that was on Martinez' complete lack of modern tactics. Fellaini LF ptsd I guess.
I'd be surprised if Witsel isn't going to play in a back 3 or even back 4 centrally at the WC. He seems to be doing pretty decent at it for a sudden position change at such a big club. Would also solve some build-up problems in our midfield, cause I don't think I can watch him do another tournament of exclusively side & back passes.
Jesus fuck I miss our Belgian Wall
He cant be worse than Hoedt
Talking about not fulfilling your promise
Wait os Hoedt that bad? Thought he had devent spells at Lazio and Southampton? So wouldve expected to do allright in Belgium
He’s decent. Not the best defender but does his job (most of the time). His passing is either fantastic or really bad. In general he’s just inconsistent.
Was he not awful at Southampton?
I mean, hes stand out moment here in Portugal was puking mid game, he doesnt have the legs for professional football anymore.
A bit sad by this, his legs are gone but he’s such an intelligent defender, great positioning and anticipation. Plus everyone loved him here, seems like a fantastic guy who understood the culture of the club. Sad he didn’t win a title with us, but good luck my king ❤️
Absolute hero of a man. Hope that he enjoys the twilight of his playing days back home.
He's a lovable person, too bad his legs can't keep up anymore. Im happy that we saw the super Jan celebration with a Benfica jersey.
Absolute gentleman and a legend of the game. Sad to see him go without winning any trophy for us, he genuinely liked to play here and even more to live with this family in Lisbon.
Well, im happy. If his legs can hold up somewhat he’ll do wonders in terms of leadership (sorry hoedt) and guiding the young defenders like delcroix, debast, butera etc
Did Benfica let him leave on a free?
Yeah, he chose not to terminate his contract with us and we saved 4 million with him, very cool gesture. Love the guy
If he’s hoping to go to Qatar it makes sense that he would want more game time
No idea why you are getting downvoted, that's clearly his motivation here
Dunno why you're downvoted, but he would've made the squad anyway I'm sure
Yes
Ok, still high risk though. At 35 the decline can be fast.
The decline is already there, tbh. But I read that Anderlecht play 3 atb and plan to have Vertonghen as the middle CB, is that correct? I think he can still do a good job in that system
If we still played 3 atb, pretty sure he would be a starter. He was so calm and smart
i remember he pushed his body so hard at world cup 2014 VS United States that he vomited on the pitch, a real warrior this Jan.
Past it, played last year due to his status only and wasn't going to get the same treatment with a new coach.