Virgil van Dijk | Performances

MikeKing said:
He scored two goals last game as well, so I agree they can't and wont blame anything on their defence, but you could speculate in Liverpool changing to a more conservative set up is doing their defence more favours than their attack. It is normal to be raised as a talking point somewhere. One year some say the best player in the world is a Liverpool attacker named Salah, next year when their approach changes Salah is unrecognisable at the same time their CB is being talked about as the best in the world. Maybe its form, maybe it's about circumstances and tactics, or maybe a bit of both. I fail to see the relevance of applauding a CB in a 0-0 game where they needed 3 points and he wasn't even the best performing CB on the pitch.
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Reading this, I actually agree with you about what you've said about how Liverpool are setting up, both tactically and personnel, they have stabilised the defense at some cost to the attacking fluidity. Saying that, I don't think it excuses the attack though as I don't think they're overly stifled. Using today as a microcosm of their season, they had chances (Salah in particular) where either their bad finishing, first touch or awareness squandered the opportunity.

I think he had a very good game, you point out that they needed the 3 points but I don't think he can be held accountable for Liverpool not achieving that. He kept a clean sheet, did his defensive duties and for something that was criticised early on in his Liverpool career I thought he was positionally excellent. He dealt with several Everton attacks with really clever reading of the game combined with his physicality and didn't really put a foot wrong. With regards to the attacking side, he did go long fairly often but I thought he was pretty accurate with his long passing (whether he should go long so often is a different argument but I think it's a tactical change they've gone with) and he set up Fabinho with an absolutely golden chance in the second half that should have broke the deadlock.

As for not being the best performing CB on the pitch, I assume you're referring to Keane, who I thought was great also but I do thin van Dijk was better.
 
charlenefan said:
He seriously did not look this good at Southampton
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He was this good at Southampton. His records speak of himself even since Celtic days. The abilities were obvious to see.

The only final step he needed to do is going to a big club, and boy did he really stepped up.
 
When Van Gaal was appointed and Van Dijk played for Celtic, I wanted him here. Due to the Dutch connection and the fact that he was a big physical composing defender.

You know what people said to me?

“Van Dijk? :lol::lol: He’s nowhere close to Chris Smalling”
 
I only watched the 2nd half yesterday and he was impressive. Super positioning and very dominant in the air. We find someone like that to partner Lindelof and a proper right back and we are sorted for next season.
 
Negan said:
When Van Gaal was appointed and Van Dijk played for Celtic, I wanted him here. Due to the Dutch connection and the fact that he was a big physical composing defender.

You know what people said to me?

“Van Dijk? :lol::lol: He’s nowhere close to Chris Smalling”
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Crazy that.
VVD is already the best defender in the PL and he’s still got years left in him.
 
Negan said:
When Van Gaal was appointed and Van Dijk played for Celtic, I wanted him here. Due to the Dutch connection and the fact that he was a big physical composing defender.

You know what people said to me?

“Van Dijk? :lol::lol: He’s nowhere close to Chris Smalling”
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I wanted him here when he was at Celtic too! Got the usual 'Scottish football is rubbish' replies! Anyone with half an eye for talent could see how great he would become! We need to start making these type of signings again!
 
A Rio Ferdinand reincarnate. Let's see if our scouts can find some prospect of the same ilk.
 
Rajma said:
I actually think all this hype got into his head and he started believing it himself, normally, it works to player's detriment but sometimes it fills you up with all the confidence in the world and it shows.
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How can a theory be so bizarre yet make so much sense at the same time
 
He was brilliant against some of the best attackers in world football last night. Well done.

Seriously though, Liverpool played with 3(!) defensively minded midfielders and VVD had to stop a 'world beater" in the form of Calvert Lewin. The praise he gets is well over the top. People focus to much on individual actions and fail to see that it is the overall defensive organisation that Liverpool have, and not merely this or that player, which makes them hard to score against.
 
Treble said:
He was brilliant against some of the best attackers in world football last night. Well done.

Seriously though, Liverpool played with 3(!) defensively minded midfielders and VVD had to stop a 'world beater" in the form of Calvert Lewin. The praise he gets is well over the top. People focus to much on individual actions and fail to see that it is the overall defensive organisation that Liverpool have, and not merely this or that player, which makes them hard to score against.
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That's nonsense. Everything high into the box he headed away, any crosses from Everton's right he got down the angle off and cleared. Yes he wasn't against a great Everton attack but everything Liverpool had to to deal with he did so with ease
 
charlenefan said:
That's nonsense. Everything high into the box he headed away, any crosses from Everton's right he got down the angle off and cleared. Yes he wasn't against a great Everton attack but everything Liverpool had to to deal with he did so with ease
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Not everyything you can't understand is nonsense.

He did nothing that a very good defender can't do. And I did not mean that he isn't one of the best, maybe the best CB in the PL right now. But last night wasn't one of those games which prove much.
 
Treble said:
Not everyything you can't understand is nonsense.

He did nothing that a very good defender can't do. And I did not mean that he isn't one of the best, maybe the best CB in the PL right now. But last night wasn't one of those games which prove much.
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It is nonsense because what VVD excelled at yesterday had nothing to do with a defensive shape or organisation because if it were his performances would be going largely unnoticed. Fact is though his individual performance was so obviously excellent yesterday it was impossible to go unnoticed
 
Considering the praise after single game you would think they played against City yesterday.
 
charlenefan said:
It is nonsense because what VVD excelled at yesterday had nothing to do with a defensive shape or organisation because if it were his performances would be going largely unnoticed. Fact is though his individual performance was so obviously excellent yesterday it was impossible to go unnoticed
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Again, he did nothing that every good defender wouldn't be able to do: Everton provided little threat in attack and those long balls or loose balls in the box were easy to degend against. Calvert Lewin isn't a big tough guy anyway, it's not a big deal to beat him in the air time and again. And Everton were forced to resort to those long/loose balls mostly because of Liverpool's defensive organisation, something which has probably eluded you.
 
charlenefan said:
It is nonsense because what VVD excelled at yesterday had nothing to do with a defensive shape or organisation because if it were his performances would be going largely unnoticed. Fact is though his individual performance was so obviously excellent yesterday it was impossible to go unnoticed
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To me that was just the game was so boring offensively for Liverpool, the only positive their fans could take from that was Van Djik's style and grace. He played well, did nothing wrong, but that's it. I actually expected a bit more urgency from him when he had the ball. It was all very controlled and slow. I didn't think he ran forward with the ball but he has probably been told to not do that in that game to be safe? My point is, if these are the types of CB's that win you the league, why couldn't a pass open up more chances for Liverpool yesterday when they needed it? Everton managed to sustain most of the attacks at the end of the game.

Also, I can admit I might be a bit salty about Van Djik playing for Liverpool so giving him credit if it is not absolutely necessary will be difficult.
 
Treble said:
Again, he did nothing that every good defender wouldn't be able to do: Everton provided little threat in attack and those long balls or loose balls in the box were easy to degend against. Calvert Lewin isn't a big tough guy anyway, it's not a big deal to beat him in the air time and again. And Everton were forced to resort to those long/loose balls mostly because of Liverpool's defensive organisation, something which has probably eluded you.
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Everton's playing style was due to the lack of guile in their team, Gueye and Schneiderlin aren't the type of midfielders who are going to open anyone up and Sigurdsson lets be honest is a budget David Silva sort.
 
Negan said:
When Van Gaal was appointed and Van Dijk played for Celtic, I wanted him here. Due to the Dutch connection and the fact that he was a big physical composing defender.

You know what people said to me?

“Van Dijk? :lol::lol: He’s nowhere close to Chris Smalling”
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On here?
 
Treble said:
He was brilliant against some of the best attackers in world football last night. Well done.

Seriously though, Liverpool played with 3(!) defensively minded midfielders and VVD had to stop a 'world beater" in the form of Calvert Lewin. The praise he gets is well over the top. People focus to much on individual actions and fail to see that it is the overall defensive organisation that Liverpool have, and not merely this or that player, which makes them hard to score against.
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Liverpool have adopted a very defensive approach from attack to defence and they have 3 defensive midfielders to cover their back 4. They rely mainly on counter attacks ths when teams seat very deep without much space behind the back 4 they have problems

That is why the defence does not get exposed that much. Though the midfield does not contribute much to the attack, defensively they are top notch

vs Bayern without Van Dijk, Liverpool coped well defensively even with a makeshift Fabinho in CB
 
He's good, but he's no Ramos. I mean sure, Ramos is on about 1 red card every two games during his entire career, but did you see that panenka?
 
He's exactly what we need playing next to Lindelof. The two combined would be immense.
 
11101 said:
He's exactly what we need playing next to Lindelof. The two combined would be immense.
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Been thinking that myself. Lindelof is very good and someone like Van Dijk next to him would’ve been a formidable partnership.
 
Aloysius's Back 3 said:
Fabinho & Van Dijk has to happen in my opinion.
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Nah. Gomez was so good he was actually playing to a similar level to Van Dijk before his injury. Those two with Alisson behind them and Fabinho in front of them are going to be very very special.

We've complete overhauled our defensive core in the past 14 months. Of those four, only Gomez was even at the club back then (and he was being eased in at rightback after spending most of two years injured) - and those four have arguably been our top performers this season alongside Salah and Robertson.
 
OnlyTwoDaSilvas said:
Some silly looking views on him in these two VVD threads:

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/virgil-van-dijk.396976/
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/glasgow-rumour-virgil-van-dijk.408684/

Someone called him 'big and slow', another preferred to have Vlaar over him. Yikes.
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The second thread is atrocious. It wasn't a divided opinion, instead it was pretty unanimous that he's average and we don't need him.

Then again, when Liverpool signed him, I thought that he isn't much (if any) better than our CBs, and since then he has been the best CB in the world.

The question is: are we terrible at judging players or Van Dijk actually improved a lot in the last 2 years?!
 
I used to think he was just above average defender. He's not. He's arguably the best CB in the world at the moment. He's also a natural leader which is probably the most annoying part.
 
Negan said:
When Van Gaal was appointed and Van Dijk played for Celtic, I wanted him here. Due to the Dutch connection and the fact that he was a big physical composing defender.

You know what people said to me?

“Van Dijk? :lol::lol: He’s nowhere close to Chris Smalling”
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Yeah, but you wanted Perisic, Willian or Zaha instead of Martial so you can kind of understand people who laughed at you:

Negan said:
I’d rather we soldMartial and Sanchez and bought Perisic and Willian or Zaha.

I’m sick of seeing strikers and “number 10s” on our wings. Our play is too fecking narrow.
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MikeKing said:
He scored two goals last game as well, so I agree they can't and wont blame anything on their defence, but you could speculate in Liverpool changing to a more conservative set up is doing their defence more favours than their attack. It is normal to be raised as a talking point somewhere. One year some say the best player in the world is a Liverpool attacker named Salah, next year when their approach changes Salah is unrecognisable at the same time their CB is being talked about as the best in the world. Maybe its form, maybe it's about circumstances and tactics, or maybe a bit of both. I fail to see the relevance of applauding a CB in a 0-0 game where they needed 3 points and he wasn't even the best performing CB on the pitch.
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I actually don't think Liverpool went to a more conservative style. I think many teams played suicidal tactics against them last season and now teams realize you can't get into a track meet with the likes of Mane and Salah. The matches vs City and Real Madrid opened everyone's eyes that they are probably the best counterattacking side in Europe. Now, teams smartly sit deep b/c (ironically) Liverpool don't have a Coutinho type player to break teams down. Even City did it at Anfield and almost got a result. Funny that Liverpool now need the player they sold and the player who's medical they rejected (Fekir). Football is a funny game.
 
RedCurry said:
I used to think he was just above average defender. He's not. He's arguably the best CB in the world at the moment. He's also a natural leader which is probably the most annoying part.
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He is. But he's probably also very ambitious and has a track record for downing tools to force a move if he gets an attractive offer, so hopefully he won't be at Anfield too long.
 
Negan said:
When Van Gaal was appointed and Van Dijk played for Celtic, I wanted him here. Due to the Dutch connection and the fact that he was a big physical composing defender.

You know what people said to me?

“Van Dijk? :lol::lol: He’s nowhere close to Chris Smalling”
Click to expand...

It was reported at the time that LVG didn't consider VVD for his Holland WC squad purely because the Dutchman was playing in the Scottish League.So I dont think LVG was going to move for VVD anytime soon while he was managing us.
 
So there is this and Klopp renting Rodgers' house. Any other interesting stories with Footballers and Managers renting each others houses?
 
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