Virgil van Dijk | Performances

[Treble]

How to explain that there isn't much between Liverpool and City defensively wise given that Liverpool's defenders are individually better (3 of them in the PFA team of the season), the keepers are on the same level and Liverpool play with 3 defensively minded midfielders vs 1 for City? Genuine question.

Is it because City's way of defending is superior and Liverpool compensate with individual quality and runners in midfield?

 

[B20]

The wrongness

I don't get why he's being made out to be this massive superstar signing. He's an improvement on what Liverpool have, but not anywhere close to world class.



Edit: I mean, he's fucccin world class la, five times!

£75m

Hes a decent defender in fairness.

But £75m

Most expensive defender in the world.

Let that sink in..

He's not particularly great at defending and that's been obvious since he moved here from Scotland.

But he's good on the ball and it was decided he was good, therefore the regular errors leading to goals in a Southampton shirt were conveniently swept aside.

He'll get found out at Liverpool.

He can take lessons on how to head a ball from Smalling

I think he's a decent defender.

The £75m fee was just so ludicrous though, as were the comparisons to Rio, it's going to add so much pressure on him. There's no way he can justify that fee.

He's defensively vulnerable, thats why the big clubs passed on him. I remember zlatan just towering over him to head in a lofted cross.

£75M for Dutch Chris Smalling

Couldn't make it up even if you tried...Liverpool

I've said it before. He was incredibly overrated. Never stands out for the Dutch national team when he starts and let's not overrate his average-to-decent tenure at Southampton.

Dutch Chris Smalling + Klopp who can't organize a defense = Recipe for disaster.

I somehow missed that they paid £75m for him. Bloody hell. That's absolutely pants-on-head insane, even if you disregard his actual performances for Liverpool thus far. He was never some kind of world-class defender, he just showed promise. Seventy-five fecking million for an above average defender...

Saying VVD is the Dutch Chris Smalling is extremely harsh on Chris Smalling.

That's very harsh on Smalling. He's one of the best out and out defenders in the league, if not the best. It's just his ballplaying skills that leaves a lot to be desired.

What they meant is, being a Dutch Chris Smalling is actually a praise for VVD and an insult for Chris Smalling.

This guy takes Liverpool to the next level though remember... guy is average as feck.

They broke the world record for a defender on a player who has played for Groningen, Celtic in the Scottish league, a mid-table PL club and for a second rate national team. It’s simply laughable.

Smalling is a good defender so this is a bit harsh..

Yeah, and I don’t really see the similarities. In terms of defending, Smalling is much more capable, but VVD is much better with the ball. Are their similarities both are fast and black?

That is why you don't spend 75mil on one defender when the rest are mediocre.

I think he's a good player but genuinely Phil Jones is better. For the price Liverpool paid for him, that's just not good enough.

When he's compared to Smalling, it doesn't mean he is crap. Rather, he's only as good as Smalling. Just as Smalling isn't worth 75 mil, neither is VVD.

I'd rate VVD as equal to our set of CBs, solid without being world class. Jose would get a tune out of him, but Klopp is absolutely not the right manager to improve his game.

Oh I'm here.

Just waiting for those trying to justify his price to appear. He's a good centre back nothing more. Certainly not top tier in the world. Hopefully this is obvious now.

Liverpool paid £75m for Smalling with a man bun.

We could buy 2 Eric Baileys for the price of this guy!

 

[Red_toad]

So will that equate to Man city losing 2 point lead slip every time Liverpool played before Man City in last couple of weeks? And Liverpool slipping away one point lead when Man City played their game in hand?

Sounds like this season is season of bottlers, nobody wants to win it they have slipped, 28 times (i believe) between them this season.

I mean i understand you want to rub it in your rival fanbase's face but you dont have to give ridiculous pseudo logics to justify your taunt.

Because instead of people having a laugh, they are left with many dead brain cells.

That’d be a 1 point lead and yes they do as level or behind is not a lead

 

[B20]

How to explain that there isn't much between Liverpool and City defensively wise given that Liverpool's defenders are individually better (3 of them in the PFA team of the season), the keepers are on the same level and Liverpool play with 3 defensively minded midfielders vs 1 for City? Genuine question.

Is it because City's way of defending is superior and Liverpool compensate with individual quality and runners in midfield?

We play with one defensive midfielder and two box to box ones.

But mainly I reckon we defend more than city do and are more willing to see out a game by sitting back. So our defence has more to do.
It's to city's credit that their setup makes up for it of course, but I don't think the amount of goals they concede is as clear a correlation to the quality of their defenders (who are still really good) as it would be in most other teams.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

The wrongness

You're a very strange person...

 

[hasanejaz88]

That's because Holland are shite. Even still, we won the nation's league group with France and Germany.

Guess who made the deciding goal in the tie against zhe Germans to secure first place.

And then Germany put 3 past him and De Lijt a few months later

Honestly though, he's probably the best defender in the world right now. What makes him look better is also how confident he is on the ball, similar to Hummels during the early 2010's. A defender can be good at defending, but when they are also good on the ball they just look that extra bit special because they never look phased by anything. Usually you would see even some top defenders struggle when put under pressure but Van Dijk doesn't seem to fluster.

Him and De Lijt, two dutchman in the top tier of world defenders at the moment, with average strikers, while Germany lack a top quality CB but have quality attackers.....wtf is happening to this world?!

 

[Massive Spanner]

Jesus, people saying at the time they signed him that Phil Jones was better

 

[KirkDuyt]

And then Germany put 3 past him and De Lijt a few months later

Honestly though, he's probably the best defender in the world right now. What makes him look better is also how confident he is on the ball, similar to Hummels during the early 2010's. A defender can be good at defending, but when they are also good on the ball they just look that extra bit special because they never look phased by anything. Usually you would see even some top defenders struggle when put under pressure but Van Dijk doesn't seem to fluster.

Him and De Lijt, two dutchman in the top tier of world defenders at the moment, with average strikers, while Germany lack a top quality CB but have quality attackers.....wtf is happening to this world?!

It's a miracle we beat you and drew against you in the first place. You comfortably outplayed us for about 150 of the 180 minutes in the Nation's League. That last game you finally took your chances even though it was still quite close in the end. Sane tore De Ligt and VVD a new one though. Made em look like knobs.

 

[JDoe]

Him and De Lijt, two dutchman in the top tier of world defenders at the moment, with average strikers, while Germany lack a top quality CB but have quality attackers.....wtf is happening to this world?!

Pretty sure Süle will become a top tier defender. Will be very hard to reach VVD's current club level though. We also lack a great CF prospect, Werner isn't going to cut it IMO, at least for the possession type football in the NT. Maybe Sané can be converted to a Ronaldo/Bale type winger soon, he definitely has the tools for that.

 

[DatIrishFella]

The wrongness

Yeah ...... but Dejan Lovren. Or something.

But seriously. At the time 75m for a Soton defender was laughable. Didnt see his trajectory to arguably the best defender in Europe.

 

[Lash]

The wrongness

Humble pie, well and truly eaten. No one could have projected he'd have the impact he did, but there were some quite strong views there!

 

[RobinLFC]

Humble pie, well and truly eaten. No one could have projected he'd have the impact he did, but there were some quite strong views there!

I also didn't think he was worth £75m when we signed him, but the Smalling/Jones comparisons were just silly imo.

 

[Lash]

I also didn't think he was worth £75m when we signed him, but the Smalling/Jones comparisons were just silly imo.

Yeah, I'm not sure I would have ever suggested a comparison with him and Jones. Smalling has his waves of form, shortly followed by meltdown. So could have been off the back of that.

 

[Zoo]

It was the fee which got my back up and it seems a few others. I did the same thing when City signed Kyle Walker for £50m.

 

[Raw]

It was the fee which got my back up and it seems a few others. I did the same thing when City signed Kyle Walker.

Even Sterling many years ago for £50m got quite a bit of stick, seeing as it was such a huge price at the time. Yet no one cares about that any more.

 

[Treble]

We play with one defensive midfielder and two box to box ones.

But mainly I reckon we defend more than city do and are more willing to see out a game by sitting back. So our defence has more to do.
It's to city's credit that their setup makes up for it of course, but I don't think the amount of goals they concede is as clear a correlation to the quality of their defenders (who are still really good) as it would be in most other teams.

I didn't say that you play with 3 defensive mids, I said that you play with 3 defensively minded mids which is different. City play only with one such midfielder in Fernandinho/Gundogan. The Silvas and KDB are more attack-minded than Henderson, Milner, Wijnaldum, etc.

Not sure about the bolded point. What do you mean?

If you have more individual quality in defence and play more defensively than City but still concede a similar amount of goals (note that in terms of xGA they've done better than you) then their defensive organisation is better.

 

[Keeps It tidy]

People generally make too big of a deal about transfer fees. Especially for top clubs no worries guys they can afford it.

 

[adexkola]

We play with one defensive midfielder and two box to box ones.

But mainly I reckon we defend more than city do and are more willing to see out a game by sitting back. So our defence has more to do.
It's to city's credit that their setup makes up for it of course, but I don't think the amount of goals they concede is as clear a correlation to the quality of their defenders (who are still really good) as it would be in most other teams.

This makes no sense. You would think that the proactive way they play would leave them more suspectible to conceding. Hence the nonsense of "they can be got at".

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Well deserved PFA Player of the Year award. Toss up between him and Sterling (should really go to which ever one of them wins the league I think - but thats not how these things work).

 

[RobinLFC]

Well deserved PFA Player of the Year award. Toss up between him and Sterling (should really go to which ever one of them wins the league I think - but thats not how these things work).

I don't get comments like this - one draw for City in their next two games would have literally zero impact on the season both players have had, so why should it impact the award? There's already an award for the best team in the league, and it's the title. You can have the best individual season without winning the title as well imo.

Agreed though that it's a toss up between him and Sterling. Salah not being in the TOTY is quite strange though, his stats are way better than Mane's (and Sterling's, for that matter).

 

[Annihilate Now!]

I don't get comments like this - one draw for City in their next two games would have literally zero impact on the season both players have had, so why should it impact the award?

The best player in the league could well be playing for a team that isn't even competing for the title.

It could be - but that's not the case here. We're talking about two very good players within two very good teams... they're pretty much neck and neck for me in terms of performances, so whichever of the two leads their team to the title would get the edge.

 

[hasanejaz88]

Pretty sure Süle will become a top tier defender. Will be very hard to reach VVD's current club level though. We also lack a great CF prospect, Werner isn't going to cut it IMO, at least for the possession type football in the NT. Maybe Sané can be converted to a Ronaldo/Bale type winger soon, he definitely has the tools for that.

Yea Sule is the only German CB right now who I think will become world class, Tah I'm not fully convinced on. What I hate is Low continuing to trust Rudiger and Ginter at CB alongside him, both aren't good enough I think. I would rather he puts Hummels back in there and maybe Tah himself or Stark. Sane and Gnabry looked brilliant against Holland as strikers, maybe that's they way forward.

It's a miracle we beat you and drew against you in the first place. You comfortably outplayed us for about 150 of the 180 minutes in the Nation's League. That last game you finally took your chances even though it was still quite close in the end. Sane tore De Ligt and VVD a new one though. Made em look like knobs.

I don't think you guys were lucky to beat us in Holland, we were shite in that match. The last match in Germany yea I agree Germany did well and should've won had it not been for the capitulation at the end.

 

[Dumbstar]

Jesus, people saying at the time they signed him that Phil Jones was better

It was @KM but I'm not going to name names.

 

[Dumbstar]

Humble pie, well and truly eaten. No one could have projected he'd have the impact he did, but there were some quite strong views there!

Klopp did. And that's why he's a genius and we're not.

 

[VorZakone]

The wrongness

Tbf to myself I didn't say Van Dijk was shit, just overrated. And when I wrote that comment he did show very little for the Dutch national team and he wasn't that impressive for Southampton whenever I watched them.

It's like he stepped up a huge level for Liverpool. Amazing signing for you guys.

 

[B20]

I didn't say that you play with 3 defensive mids, I said that you play with 3 defensively minded mids which is different. City play only with one such midfielder in Fernandinho/Gundogan. The Silvas and KDB are more attack-minded than Henderson, Milner, Wijnaldum, etc.

I wouldn't call KDB more attack-minded than Milner, or even Wijnaldum. They put in a good shift of course, but do their best work on the ball. Milner in particular is more geared towards the final third.

Obviously, KDB has far more quality than either in the final third. But I don't think he is more attack-mind per se.

Silva, yeah. We've somewhat abandoned the plan of playing with a 10cum8 this season, with Lallana and Chamberlain not being fit and the Fekir transfer falling through.

If you have more individual quality in defence and play more defensively than City but still concede a similar amount of goals (note that in terms of xGA they've done better than you) then their defensive organisation is better.

Their overall organisation is probably better in that they have to defend less. Laporte having less to do than Van Dijk is part of the explanation for why one is player of the year and the other one is not in the conversation.

 

[Klopper76]

Humble pie, well and truly eaten. No one could have projected he'd have the impact he did, but there were some quite strong views there!

I didn't think he was worth that fee either tbf. It wasn't an easy outcome to predict.

 

[VanBasten]

Tbf to myself I didn't say Van Dijk was shit, just overrated. And when I wrote that comment he did show very little for the Dutch national team and he wasn't that impressive for Southampton whenever I watched them.

It's like he stepped up a huge level for Liverpool. Amazing signing for you guys.

Both Celtic and Southampton fans rated him world class before the general public became aware of it. The guy just was a hidden gem waiting to be discovered by the top dogs.

 

[redman5]

That's because Holland are shite. Even still, we won the nation's league group with France and Germany.

Guess who made the deciding goal in the tie against zhe Germans to secure first place.

It's ridiculous to base a player's ability on how they play for their country. John Terry & Rio Ferdinand played many times for England, yet you don't need to Google it to find out just how much success they achieved at International level.

 

[Murder on Zidanes Floor]

 

[DAV771]

We could buy 2 Eric Baileys for the price of this guy!

My personal favourite

 

[DAV771]

He's defensively vulnerable, thats why the big clubs passed on him. I remember zlatan just towering over him to head in a lofted cross.

Actually, can I change my mind? This one's perfect!

To be fair, he never looked this good until he joined Liverpool. Plus, I'm sure I'll have plenty of quotes thrown back at me when I inevitably end up being wrong about a bunch of players during the coming silly season. Still, if you can't laugh at yourself, what can you laugh at?

 

[IrishRedDevil]

 

[Isotope]

Klopp did. And that's why he's a genius and we're not.

We should have hired Klopp.

 

[Buchan]

Great positioning there, Virgil, la...

 

[Bubz27]

3 yards deeper than his team. Doesn't track Suarez.

But he hasn't been dribbled past yet.

 

[KirkDuyt]

Biggest fraud in sports history. Hope Koeman sacks him in the morning.

 

[FujiVice]

Nobody dribbles around Van Dijk they say. Well you wouldnt need to being that deep.

 

[redcafe_reader]

TBH I think it's more great pass + great run than VVD's error.

 

[Zoo]

Rio blaming him. Called it criminal defending.