It was really the Alisson + Van Dijk combination that made Liverpool's defense so good. Notice in 17/18 season after January and after Alisson got injured, Van Dijk wasn't as good as 18/19.
Virgil van Dijk | Performances
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It was really the Alisson + Van Dijk combination that made Liverpool's defense so good. Notice in 17/18 season after January and after Alisson got injured, Van Dijk wasn't as good as 18/19.
Even in Liverpool this season he has been shaky in many games
As long as he performs for Holland I don't give a rats arse how he does for Liverpool honestly
Shaky in many games? No he hasn’t.
The theory that VVD is more important to the team than Salah will be seriously tested if the latter misses more than 1-2 games in a row. They have conceded again and didn't look sharp in attack.
They often struggle against teams preferring to sit low and counter. Their main issues were Henderson and Origi. Did not work well with the other players.
Van Dijk isn’t worthy of the praise being heaped on him these past 12+ months, but I thought Matip was absolutely atrocious next to him today. That central pairing is certainly not as formidable as it has been made out to be and I see further examples (such as today) of this ahead.
They rely much more on Salah than they would like to admit. He's at least as important to them as Van Dijk, if not more. Personally, I think Salah is their best player. Scores as much or more than Mane and creates much more chances than Mane.
I think they would have struggled equally with Mane or Firminho out when attacking. It is the combination of those 3 that makes them extremely dangerous and difficult to play against. If I were to build a team from scratch and looking at the players in isolation and not part as an attack, then I would pick VVD, Mane and Firminho over Salah, but that is my personal preference in football players that are not "specialist".
Very good player and I’ve always liked him. But hands down he’s become the most overrated player I’ve ever witnessed.
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Salah is 100 times better than Origi starting, and 50 times better than Ox starting that's for sure. We need our super human back ASAP.
Great player, has no business being lauded as one of the greatest PL defender as some will have you believe.
What's his caf username?
Posts on RAWK.
Neville on commentary today saying how he demoralises defenders to the point they don’t even bother trying to outdo him like he’s some sort of superhuman.
10 seconds later Rashford outpaces, outmuscles then turns him...
He’s very good agreed but the hype is tedious.
They’re building him up to knock him down. It’s tough to watch the build up process because it’s a rival player but make no mistake, when his form dips he will to be subject to some very disproportionate criticism.
I look forward to that.
The fantastic , glorious best defender in the world that nothing gets past was pushed off the ball by Rashford twice today.
I thought he wins everything that comes his way
I thought he wins everything that comes his way
Aye me too.
I think a little arrogance is begining to develop
Has he watched Liverpool this season? Once formed, opinions tend to be quite stable and filter information which challenges them. He's obviously quite good but not the defensive god he is made out to be. He is getting back to normal levels of excellence.
No chance that happens as long as he remains a Liverpool player.
People get very offended by the praise he gets. There’s no CB around right now that I’d rather have than him and nothings changed my opinion on that. Pretty sure we’ve still got the best defensive record in the league.
We’re pushed higher up the pitch this season which has left both of our CB’s exposed more than they were last season but he’s still having a decent season.
Some of the comments in here are more OTT than the praise he gets.
We’re pushed higher up the pitch this season which has left both of our CB’s exposed more than they were last season but he’s still having a decent season.
Some of the comments in here are more OTT than the praise he gets.
He's a top class defender, but he's played below the level he showed last season so far this season in a few games
Is that a more fair assessment?
Is that a more fair assessment?
Definitely.
Rashford seems to be very able to exploit his and Trents weaknesses. They must wish the Caf’s wishes were followed and Rashford was benched...
Purple patch is over.
He's not been as good as last season but he's been fine. They still have won a lot of games regardless but the difference is that less have had to happen in order for them to lose 2 points. Nothing major though.
I enjoyed watching him fall on his arse from a shoulder to shoulder with Rashford
Last season you conceded 8 goals in the first 19 games, this season - 7 goals in the first 9. That's just 1 goal better than the Maguire-less Leicester defence and 2 goals better than City who are going through a severe injury crisis at CB and still have conceded less chances and shots on target than you lot. Basically, it's not a great record.
Yesterday was pretty much the first time I really watched him play and he was pretty good. His confidence is high and you can see that on how calm he is most of the time. But he seems to have this trait of going in too hard when he does not need to. He did it to James, Rashford & Periera yesterday when after winning the ball he made sure he jumped into the opponent with his hip. Going in hard is one thing. Turning sideways to make contact is a bit nasty I think.
Yesterday I felt VVD made a mistake by allowing James to cross the ball(which led to goal) easily. He could have easily got near to him and put some pressure.
Wants to leave in the summer apparently.
Before Liverpool fans get their knickers in a twist (some already are on his Twitter), this guy breaks team, injury news and occasional transfer news. Called Rashfords' stress fracture 2 days before anyone else got on it.
Would be good but doesn’t matter too much even if it did happen. They always seem to get someone better somehow when one of their best players leave, annoyingly.
To be fair this random account did break Rashford's back injury.
Perhaps Klopp will follow after VVD
Of course it would matter. He is the best defender in the league and is their single most important player.
In the World surely at this point?
Haha. How could it possibly be? These players must be licking their lips thinking they can start some decent trophy haul during the next 2-3 years. Unfortunately.