Virgil van Dijk

[Blaugrana Bull]

Obviously there is a difference between current form and legacy. Van Dijk is the best CB right now but he does not have any legacy at all. If he wins titles with Liverpool this season and in the upcoming, you can talk about him building his.

 

[hulinat]

overrated. messi will rip his butthole

 

[Ernesto GOATverde Tejedor]

And vvds level 2017-2019 is the Best defender I have ever watched... Didnt watch italians great defender in 90' og Beckenbauer, but Can someone tell how good vvds last 2-3 y are in comparision to the all-time great cbs?

Not even close to Nesta, Maldini, Costacurta, Baresi, Cannavaro, Thuram, Desailly etc. De Ligt willl end up better than him also.

 

[Havesaks]

Not even close to Nesta, Maldini, Costacurta, Baresi, Cannavaro, Thuram, Desailly etc. De Ligt willl end up better than him also.

Are those considered better than Terry, vidic, Ferdinand, pique, puyol, chillini, Ramos, pepe etc and the other great cb's post 2006? Meaning cb quality has fallen The last15 years?

 

[Kuavo]

Not even close to Nesta, Maldini, Costacurta, Baresi, Cannavaro, Thuram, Desailly etc. De Ligt willl end up better than him also.

Not even close, really? Virtually nobody, if anybody? Has gotten the better of VVD for the past 2 years, what do the others INDIVIDUALLY have over VVD that make this not even CLOSE? We're talking individual talents, not what they have won with their teams, as this is a player discussion, not team. You throw VVD into Barca, Juve's teams etc, then he will win trophies, maybe he will this year. It can't be logevity, because the comparison is 17-19, so I'm confused as to what makes the guys in this list SO much better.

I'm not saying VVD is better than any of these btw, I just disagee that the margin is as big as you have made out.

 

[Andrew M]

The praise he gets out of England in particular kinda reminds me of the praise Kompany used to get. Not unfounded but definitely over the top

 

[Ernesto GOATverde Tejedor]

Are those considered better than Terry, vidic, Ferdinand, pique, puyol, chillini, Ramos, pepe etc and the other great cb's post 2006? Meaning cb quality has fallen The last15 years?

Yes, Nesta, Maldini, Costacurta, Baresi, Cannavaro, Thuram are a degree better than Terry, vidic, Ferdinand, pique, puyol, chillini, Ramos, pepe and yes the quality has fallen the last 15 years, as has striker quality bar Messi and Ronaldo.

 

[vlad]

Its okay praise the player when he is good, but after 1-2 season comparing him with all times best, its absurd

 

[Ernesto GOATverde Tejedor]

Not even close, really? Virtually nobody, if anybody? Has gotten the better of VVD for the past 2 years, what do the others INDIVIDUALLY have over VVD that make this not even CLOSE? We're talking individual talents, not what they have won with their teams, as this is a player discussion, not team. You throw VVD into Barca, Juve's teams etc, then he will win trophies, maybe he will this year. It can't be logevity, because the comparison is 17-19, so I'm confused as to what makes the guys in this list SO much better.

I'm not saying VVD is better than any of these btw, I just disagee that the margin is as big as you have made out.

The toughest strikers he has had to face in that overrated marketing league are Aguero and Kane. He's done that adequately for 1 and a half years. The defenders listed above are a degree better because they were standing out against some of the best strikers in history - R9, Van Basten, Batistuta, Baggio - for numerous years, so at present yeah its not even close and it boggles my mind that anyone who say those defenders play think it is

 

[Ernesto GOATverde Tejedor]

I remember when City played Barca a few years ago and Barca fans were saying "You'll never have a player like Messi". They replied "You'll never have a defender like Kompany". I shit you not .

 

[vlad]

I remember when City played Barca a few years ago and Barca fans were saying "You'll never have a player like Messi". They replied "You'll never have a defender like Kompany". I shit you not .

But to be fair to defenders, its not okay to rate how they handle messi, nobody cant stop messi 1vs1

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Let's hope Messi puts Dijk to his place.

 

[DonAndres]

People have to learn to distinguish between legacy and raw performance/ability to have an honest conversation about this.

VVD does not have a legacy yet, only the past 2 years has he been at a relevant stage. But it is simply a fact that Van Dijk this year has had one of the greatest defensive seasons in EPL history, if not the greatest. Many would argue only 2005 Terry came close to this, and maybe the likes of Vidic somewhere behind both of them.

It is also a fact that Van Dijk is arguably the best (at worst 2nd best) player in what is one probably of the 5-10 best teams in EPL history. This Liverpool team would likely beat the piss out of most historical EPL champions. Van Dijk is the only defender other than John Terry to win a Player of the Year award in England.

I will say that not many of the defenders many consider among the greatest of the past 20-30 years have individually transformed a defense like Van Dijk has this year. A vast majority of them gained their historical status by being a top 3 CB or so over a long and decorated career, it's actually extremely rare that a CB is clearly the best in the world for several seasons in terms of actual performance. His peak is as high or higher than any CB of the 2000's era, but that alone isn't worth as much. Many of those CB's have at least 1 similar standout season and then many years of being among the best to go with it. Hell, based on 1 year alone, Umtiti at his peak for us wasn't far from this conversation. But that's only a year or so being considered.

However, it would be disingenuous to downplay the fact that Van Dijk is anything less than dominant. On top of that, it's his versatility and being dominant at so many different aspects of the game that makes him feel like such a presence on the pitch.

 

[utility73]

Yeah, well, he looked like an amateur on that first goal.

 

[El Gato]

Yeah, well, he looked like an amateur on that first goal.

VVD loves a BGB (big game blunder). They’re piling up on him as normal. City goal in 1/4s last year, then a penalty Mahrez missed.