Virgil van Dijk | Performances

Biggest issue is that so much smoke was blown up his arse by those fawning ex scouse players that he is completely oblivious to his dramatic downturn in performances post his injury.

If Fergie was managing him he would have flogged him off last season to Madrid or Barcelona as he is only going one direction now.
 
That video doesn't show the whole scene, to be fair to him. There was another player lurking behind him and VVD was trying to split himself between cutting off the pullback and forcing Chiesa wide. It's not great defending by any means but the keeper should also have done better, being beaten at that angle. Definitely not the player he was pre-injury.
 
I don’t know why people are discussing Maldini and Baresi in VVD's thread. It is beyond embarrassing, isn't it?
Only Beckenbauer stands in the same pedestal. May be, Bobby Moore too.

In this thread, please limit your comparisons to the likes of Maguire.
 
kaiser1 said:
Saw this clips of Maldini



I see he hardly backs away from a challenge unlike Van Dijk who some argued was the best ever
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Funny because in the AWB thread people would quote Maldini saying a good defender doesn’t need to slide in blah blah
I sure see a lot of similar sliding on his arse like AWB
 
antk said:
Are you expecting Maldini's highlights to include all of his errors - and thus as there isn't any included he must not have made any? What a weird comparison.
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Not sure you saw Maldini play much.
 
golden_blunder said:
Funny because in the AWB thread people would quote Maldini saying a good defender doesn’t need to slide in blah blah
I sure see a lot of similar sliding on his arse like AWB
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Those people are wrong. AWB does have defensive issues, but more due to his lack of concentration, leaving people unmarked at the back post and his general aerial ability. His tackling is obviously a major strength and he's a great one on one defender, the fact he has to make so many tackles in the first place is actually more of a reflection on his team mates.

It actually makes sense at times to let an opposition player a run at him knowing they'll most likely lose the ball anyway.
 
For 17 months he was magnificent
 
Pexbo said:
For 17 months he was magnificent
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a good part of that had to do with a great hard working midfield in front of him. That makes such a difference for defenders esp in a gungho team like Liverpool.
 
Seems a strange day to bump this thread. Hardly one of his worst games, in a game Chelsea looked fairly limp against him.
 
I think he looks like he has aged 10 years. He has lost so much of that athleticism. They won’t compete with him and Trent in a back 4.
 
Best CB to ever have a world class 10 months?
 
Did they change the last man rules again? I thought if the defender makes a genuine attempt to get the ball and is the last man its only a yellow?
 
Clear and obvious. Nothing to complain about.

Genuine attempt, but it doesn’t matter when you tackle or run into Isak’s right foot in very high speed. In my opinion Isak had free way to the goal.
 
1905 said:
Did they change the last man rules again? I thought if the defender makes a genuine attempt to get the ball and is the last man its only a yellow?
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That's only in the case of penalties as far as I know.
 
1905 said:
Did they change the last man rules again? I thought if the defender makes a genuine attempt to get the ball and is the last man its only a yellow?
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1. The rule has never been 'last man'. It's denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity which he clearly did here.

2. That rule only applies in the pen box. To avoid the triple whammy of pen, red and suspension.
 
What got me is Neville saying he didn’t have to do it because he has the pace to get back.
I thought I was watching a recording from 2019 because that’s not VVD in 2023
 
1905 said:
Did they change the last man rules again? I thought if the defender makes a genuine attempt to get the ball and is the last man its only a yellow?
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Only in the box as has been said, to avoid the triple punishment. To be fair it's even more blatant than the one on Bruno yesterday and absolutely the right decision, he prevented a 1v1.
 
Apparantly you’re allowed to refuse to leave the field and say feck you to the referee. Or maybe verbal offences only apply to Wayne Rooney - let’s see.
 
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