Klopp's Liverpool is one of the most likeable teams around. Nothing wrong in liking this team. Relax.
Virgil van Dijk | Performances
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) look forward to a new life under Ruben Amorim. What system will we be playing? What players will impress? and how will it all go? We also say goodbye to Ruud Van Nistelrooy and review United's 3-0 win at home against Leicester City.
Klopp's Liverpool is one of the most likeable teams around. Nothing wrong in liking this team. Relax.
Not on a Man Utd fan forum.
Shut up you WUM
Of all the feckin things I've read today, having to read this is something else. Likeable? Are you having a laugh?
I think one important factor is that they are competing against a financially doped state funded sportwashing machine. So compared to them, atleast they are a real Football Club. Klopp deserves more respect than the pretentious neurotic Pep.
Ofcourse, United fans won't like Klopp but he's generally likeable in my opinion.
VVD is one of the greats to be fair. He's got pretty much everything you'd want from a CB.
If I had to pick a 'at their best PL 11', I'd probably have him in there, alongside Terry
He's one of the best defenders I've ever seen. Genuinely and I hate Liverpool with a passion
Ferdinand, at his very peak, was the best CB in the world. Just as good a defender as Terry and better with the ball at his feet than Van Dijk.
Carvalho was also a much better defender with a better CV in football.
Van Dijk hasn’t even been at a top club for 6 years.
Standing off and being passive so you are never the defender who has to commit doesn’t make him the best of the PL era. No way.
Football is a funny game. He has scored a goal while being marked by a left back in a game against a clueless attack, and the plaudits come out.
Rio, Stam, Vidic, Campbell, Terry, Carvalho, Kompany are all above him. They had several consecutive quality seasons rather than a couple of very good seasons, followed by one off season.
Ferdinand was better than Terry for me. Carvahlo though no chance he is better than VVD, was a great CB but there’s not much he did better than VVD, and VVD has athleticism and aerial prowess over him.
We eulogise players from the past but if you were to go back and watch every single game of them you’ll probably be surprised to how much time makes you forget all the faults they had.
Ferdinand is the best CB in PL, Stam Terry VVD Terry Vidic not far behind.
Stam had 3 seasons at United.
And all 3 were quality. He never had an off season like Van Dijk did last season.
VVD is brilliant, have to say.
That’s true but VVD has probably had more good seasons in the PL than he has, Stam had good seasons in the Serie A at a time it was arguably best league in the world though which counts for something overall, but PL alone there wouldn’t be a great disparity between him and VVD.
Superb performance today. Stepped up and led a patched up side. Led by example and scored a winner. Captain and leader.
I think Vidic is the best PL defender of all time
Good choice. Though Ferdinand over Vidic for me.
Kompany isn’t in a company that includes Van Dijk, level below. Van Dijk is only competing with Terry, Vidic and Rio there, and only Vidic is better imo.
Carvalho was a fantastic defender! He didn’t have the athleticism but he knew how to stop even the greatest of attackers from scoring.
He has a CL win with Porto under his belt and was crucial to a Chelsea team that conceded only 15 goals in an entire Premier League season.
Can’t agree with him not being at the top table. He was the best pure defender and had the most guile of all of them.
Why would you say this? A lot of posters on here agree but I always put Ferdinand above because I think he is a CB that could fit into all systems and playing styles and would still look the part as good as he was even in a Guardiola style team with an incredibly high line, that for me counts for something and why I put him above Terry and Vidic who together are probably the best 3 in PL years.
I always rated Kompany. Helped get City over the line in some tight title races.
Van Dijk is a level below Rio, Vidic and Terry. For me, he's in the Carvalho, Campbell and Kompany category, and I'd rate all of them higher than him overall.
That’s true but he was also playing a Chelsea team that had Makelele, Essien, Geremi, shielding the back and four and ina time where deeper lines were the vogue, Mourinho’s Chelsea were very defensive compared to the top teams of today.
Still the best team defensively in PL history collectively, but if you actually look at each individual and analyse it Carvahlo had more weaknesses than VVD for me. Pace and athleticism being probably the biggest and to be fair only one, but it’s still a weakness he had.
In all fairness he is right. They power up against the oil money with sheer team spirit and dedication
Troll
Kompany was a likeable player but was he ever going to be in with a sniff of top 3 Ballon d’Or or footballer of the year? I would say Kompany was never considered among the best CBs in the world whereas Van Dijk has.
The ideal of Ferdinand is great and the ultimate defender. In reality, I think Vidic was more effective, more consistent. For example, Ferdinand had more lapses in concentration and his decision making wasn’t as good as Vidic imo, which is something that can’t be measured by just looking at pace or ability on the ball.
Go and wash your mouth out with soap
Pretty sure most non-Liverpool fans don't like the way he constantly berates the officials on the touchline, or how he talks down to people in press conferences whenever they dare to say something that doesn't brown-nose him.Ofcourse, United fans won't like Klopp but he's generally likeable in my opinion.
Oh dear, the 'United fans' are back worshipping VVD.
If you’re going to stay here you can quit the neutral nonsense and admit you’re a Liverpool fanI think one important factor is that they are competing against a financially doped state funded sportwashing machine. So compared to them, atleast they are a real Football Club. Klopp deserves more respect than the pretentious neurotic Pep.
Ofcourse, United fans won't like Klopp but he's generally likeable in my opinion.
I think one important factor is that they are competing against a financially doped state funded sportwashing machine. So compared to them, atleast they are a real Football Club. Klopp deserves more respect than the pretentious neurotic Pep.
Ofcourse, United fans won't like Klopp but he's generally likeable in my opinion.
‘Neutral’
Whatever you say Tena Lady.
Let's not start using the 'top 3 in the Ballon d'Or' argument. Unless you think that because Jorginho was 3rd in the Ballon d'or in 2021, that means he was a better midfielder than Scholes ever was.
I get your point about his athleticism but Carvalho didn’t shirk challenges and was very physical and proactive about winning the ball, something that can’t be said about Van Dijk. As much as he was shielded at Chelsea, Van Dijk is very often the last defender, preferring to sit back and pass it around and leaving others to engage.
What he lacked in speed, he certainly made up for in physicality and won headers against taller opposition frequently. Crucially, he could also play and was a very good passer.
I think he read the game better than Van Dijk too. As much as we romanticize the past, we hype up the present far too often in social media vacuums and the constant daily content we all receive.
The media bias for Liverpool is very real and they were salivating over the win today. That same media has been overhyping Van Dijk as a player for the last 5 years. He is just too passive for me to include among the very best. Defenders who actually defended.
Vidic was a defender who never shied away from engagement. He sticks his neck into the tough situations
Rio can be bullied by physical defenders but Vidic is a brute who will never back down
Back to being amongst the best in the world
Nah. VVD is one of the best, as is Carvalho, Terry, Vidic, Rio, Stam, Campbell, Adams etc. Nothing wrong with saying he's very good, he is.
I reckon Van Dijk is better on the ball. Today’s game demands a lot more with elite sides making many more passes and looking for more line-breaking distribution from their CBs. In playing off the left as a right-footed CB, Van Dijk has to be able to open up the play both on his left side and spray it stepping onto his right, which demands a lot imo.
Rio came through he was lauded for his skillset on the ball, but that was set against a relatively low bar. His ability there might be underrated even because he didn’t age well. But most defenders nowadays boast superior passing ranges and technique to the majority of those who came before.
That’s true, the bar was definitely lower, but as I said above, van Dijk has a very passive style that gifts him more time in possession and means other defenders often engage the opposition before he does.
While they may pose superior passing skills, defending as an art form has taken a back seat to high intensity pressing and a midfield that works far harder off the ball.
I think it’s a discredit to players in the past to say the game is better just because players are fitter and the intensity is higher.
There were some superb defenders who played against some excellent forwards in those days. Carvalho and Ferdinand regularly played against more gifted strikers in the league, for example. (Even today, in a cup final against a major side, the opposition attacker was Jackson)
Everything in the past wasn’t inferior.