Stick a fork in this joker, he's done.
Virgil van Dijk | Performances
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
Michael Owen: Van Dijk is the best centre-half of all time.
As bad a take as it is, a good few people on here were saying similar when the Liverpool fawning was at its peak.
Never, but in the world we currently live in that is heavily social media weighted, everyone has to be the GOAT now, and yet absolutely no one, except a few quality players can play well for 3 seasons in a row.
Personally I think he was a good defender who looked better than he was in Liverpool’s high-intensity pressing system, and even better due to the general lack of standout CBs in recent years. The suggestion that he was the best the PL has ever seen was laughable, and Owen was hardly alone in saying such things.
Owen said Virgil Van Dijk is the best defender in the history of football though. I'd like to think no one else in their right mind has said that
I take it you never heard of Stevie Nicol or Alan Hansen?
Van Djoke
Is it any surprise that before Klopp bought VVD he was churning out results like tonight. Now that he's finished Liverpool heve reverted to looking quite unstable. Hopefully they don't replace him with anyone of note.
1 good season and he was the best PL defender ever. I think this is exactly why we need to judge that after their career is done.
Players like Rio, Terry, Vidic, Adams etc.. have had numerous years as being the top defender. He was the best defender on form for 1 season.
He is 31 and has had 18 months of being the best.. there is levels to this.
Players like Rio, Terry, Vidic, Adams etc.. have had numerous years as being the top defender. He was the best defender on form for 1 season.
He is 31 and has had 18 months of being the best.. there is levels to this.
I think the injury has taken a toll but more importantly take away that protection he had from midfield, and none of them look as good. Trent Alexander's weakness in defence is being exposed more so that ever. We were told at one time he was the best full back in the world, couldn't make the England starting team and now pretty much each game he is being caught out. Robertson is another whose game is suffering, he was a real consistent performer for them but not so much now. Again like Trent Alexander, he can't bomb forward at will anymore, because the protection he got from his midfield when he used to do that isn't there. There are problems in that team especially in central midfield.
I think the modern trend of teams playing only one striker (and plenty teams not playing any strikers at all!), as well as the absolute barren list of legitimately world class strikers nowadays compared to yesteryear, helps van Dijk’s cause and makes him look far better than he might’ve been in another generation. Somebody posted a list of strikers from a previous World Cup (it might’ve been the 2006 edition) and the amount of hall of famers was incredible.
There is a scant amount of truly top-level strikers plying their trade nowadays and centre-backs aren’t posed the same questions as those before were. I’d love to see van Dijk up against a prime Drogba, who asked every question you could possibly ask from a defender, or a Shearer and Sutton partnership, an Owen - Heskey duo, the eternal Yorke and Cole and Henry and Bergkamp pairs, and in Europe against the likes of Raul and Morientes, and Shevchenko and Inzaghi. Talk of van Dijk is preposterous on the back of such a short peak but also because, in my opinion, the challenges he faces today are meagre in comparison to those asked of his predecessors.
There is a scant amount of truly top-level strikers plying their trade nowadays and centre-backs aren’t posed the same questions as those before were. I’d love to see van Dijk up against a prime Drogba, who asked every question you could possibly ask from a defender, or a Shearer and Sutton partnership, an Owen - Heskey duo, the eternal Yorke and Cole and Henry and Bergkamp pairs, and in Europe against the likes of Raul and Morientes, and Shevchenko and Inzaghi. Talk of van Dijk is preposterous on the back of such a short peak but also because, in my opinion, the challenges he faces today are meagre in comparison to those asked of his predecessors.
He ranks pretty much on par with Jaap Stam as far as PL defenders go, in terms of achievements, form and longevity.
Off topic, but that immediate ball between the lines after the recovery from Nørgaard is just excellent play.
T-Rex finished him.
To be honest, I think he had the best centre back peak of the century. I think none centre back in that century had a peak equal or higher than the VvD form between 18/19 and 19/20. There were several in their career. But at the prime I don't think so
Feel quite sorry for him in his current state, not nice to see anyone have their top level taken from them by a horrific challenge.
Liverpool would be wise to go for gvardiol.
A prime does not last 2 seasons, a prime is typically a good 4-5 years. That's the issue.
Also we've had Stam, Ferdinand, Vidic, Cannavaro, Kompany and many more this century. He's nowhere near that
Allison is so good at bailing them out
I think in basketball at least, star players who suffered a torn ACL have been able to return close to their former level in recent years.
In the case of VVD, he definitely looks to have lost a yard or 2 of pace. Positioning wasn’t always his strongest suit, but he was able to use his pace to recover. Now he looks like a second or 2 behind a developing action
Don’t mean to be condescending so genuinely asking how old are you? I refuse to believe any adult who have seen the likes the Nesta, Cannavaro, Stam etc in their peak against the quality of strikers in that era would come up with such garbage of a statement. I was in awe of Alessandro Nesta, how imperious he was as a defender. Van dijk isn’t fit enough to lace his boots even at his peak .
Also, anyone heard of franco baresi?! Or bobby moore?! Football did not start in the 90's.
Ah that’s fair enough.
Yeah sure..
Ohh that shit news for us( Liverpool)
I'd say Rio's 07/08 and Nesta's 02/03 were better. But yes, I do think VVD's absolute peak was arguably the third best since the turn of the century.
The issue for him is that it only lasted a couple of seasons. Technically you could say the same about Rio (06/07 and 07/08 were his only seasons as THE best before the back injury dropped his level), but he was still very good after that and was one of the better defenders around. He was also very good before that, albeit with the occasional mind lapse. Whereas VVD's previous form wasn't 'that' good, and he also seems to have dropped off a lot more.
Perhaps he's not had the opportunity to stretch his legs properly, but interestingly his top speed in this year's CL is 33.3 km/h, which is quick but not as rapid as he's been recorded in the past (35-36km/h).
He's actually perfectly positioned when Wissa(?) receives the ball, he's side on ready to sprint and can see ball and man. But that step he takes to his left absolutely kills him there.
He's actually perfectly positioned when Wissa(?) receives the ball, he's side on ready to sprint and can see ball and man. But that step he takes to his left absolutely kills him there.
I would say if he is 100 percent fit, he is still fast but not as rapid as before his pre-injury version, which is possibly understandable for sure. He has changed his style of playing a bit since he doesn't sprint as much as during the 2019-2020 version and hasn't been aggressive compared to his 2018-2020 version.
Despite his recent below par peformances, I reckon they will miss him from a leadership point of view especially.
I genuinely believe he was going through the motions of playing Wissa offside. In Brentford's own half!! He tried to line himself up with TAA at the far end. Then reality set in.
1 of their 5 centre-backs is injured for a couple of weeks. Can’t be having that.
Time to buy Gvardiol and moan about City’s spending in the next presser.
Time to buy Gvardiol and moan about City’s spending in the next presser.
Wonder if he’s really injured or if Klopp's doing the old “taking him out of the spotlight” for a while, with him struggling with his performances this season?
Sky just announced hamstring injury and getting a scan today.
Love it
Love it
It actually was an injury then. Not that they'll miss him much with the form he was in, they looked more assured in the second half without him.