Rúben Dias - FWA Footballer of the Year

AKDevil

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Oh I completely agree. For me Dias has been the best CB in Europe this season. Just wouldn't have him ahead of VVD from the past two years personally. Certainly I think there are questions to be asked about how VVD recovers and whether he can hit the heights he was at before - I meant no slander towards Dias at all.
VVD was a one man defence at times. Complete modern defender. Remember seeing times Liverpool able to defend on the halfway like because they had him. Dias is excellent too but more traditional ... tackles, blocks, body on the line, anything to keep ball out. VVD little less of that but more to his game overall and so graceful with it. Made defending look easy while Dias is giving everything.
 

Kostov

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I think Dias has been excellent and generally rate him as one of the best CB around, but in the same time i think he's been overrated on here a bit. I think Maguire has been just as solid albeit in a different team, but would never get the same plaudits.
 

SCP

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Only Benfica player of the last years who can compete with the big boys. He isn't a hype like Sanches (a lot of power but too few football intelect and too few football or Felix - good technique and great vision but not strong enough and not enough fysique -. Luckily we've got the best portuguese player that played in Portugal of the last seasons in our squad but he didn't come from benfica so he didn't get hyped like the ones of Porto or Benfica.

Don't think that Dias was ready at the time that we've got Lindelhof in.
Tbh Dias with 22 was a level above Lindelof with the same age, never agreed with @SportingCP96 take when he said Lindelof was on the same level or was better when he left Benfica. But it's true regarding the hype associated with their players (cannot discount the Gestifute factor here).
 

TheMagicFoolBus

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Tbh Dias with 22 was a level above Lindelof with the same age, never agreed with @SportingCP96 take when he said Lindelof was on the same level or was better when he left Benfica. But it's true regarding the hype associated with their players (cannot discount the Gestifute factor here).
Really?? For me I thought Lindelof was better, but then again the Benfica of his time was a much better side all things considered and given his skillset he was probably maximised in terms of his value. Last year I thought Dias was pretty mediocre, but at the same time Lage did him no favours and he seemed to constantly be isolated 1v1 in space (suppose Grimaldo's injury last year was also a big factor).
 

SportingCP96

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Tbh Dias with 22 was a level above Lindelof with the same age, never agreed with @SportingCP96 take when he said Lindelof was on the same level or was better when he left Benfica. But it's true regarding the hype associated with their players (cannot discount the Gestifute factor here).
Can honestly say I am very impressed and shocked at how good Dias has been! Very happy for him and finally Benfica have a good export.

I do still think Lindelof was better in Portugal but clearly Ruben Dias has done better by a long mile since leaving Benfica.
 

SportingCP96

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Really?? For me I thought Lindelof was better, but then again the Benfica of his time was a much better side all things considered and given his skillset he was probably maximised in terms of his value. Last year I thought Dias was pretty mediocre, but at the same time Lage did him no favours and he seemed to constantly be isolated 1v1 in space (suppose Grimaldo's injury last year was also a big factor).
He was better for sure, as you said though it also was a better Benfica side but Ruben Dias didn’t display the same consistencies lindelof did and was very mistake prone.

However he has just gone up a level in City.
He has been fantastic and Portugal Benefits from that for sure.
 

TheMagicFoolBus

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He was better for sure, as you said though it also was a better Benfica side but Ruben Dias didn’t display the same consistencies lindelof did and was very mistake prone.

However he has just gone up a level in City.
He has been fantastic and Portugal Benefits from that for sure.
Yeah agreed with this for sure. Dias has gone up several levels since joining City and Lindelof has stagnated.
 

SCP

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Really?? For me I thought Lindelof was better, but then again the Benfica of his time was a much better side all things considered and given his skillset he was probably maximised in terms of his value. Last year I thought Dias was pretty mediocre, but at the same time Lage did him no favours and he seemed to constantly be isolated 1v1 in space (suppose Grimaldo's injury last year was also a big factor).
No he wasn't. With the same age (22) Dias already had many more games than Lindelof for the first team, and in terms of leadership it wasn't even close, the only thing where Lindelof stood out more than Dias was on his technical ability (compared to Dias), and maybe Lindelof had capacity to do more than one position on the field. There is no one who follows youth football who will tell you Lindelof was better. And I don't think Lindelof is as bad as you read here in the forum, but it's understandable coming from fans who followed Rio, Vidic, Stam, etc, compared to those he looks bad of course.
 

TheMagicFoolBus

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No he wasn't. With the same age (22) Dias already had many more games than Lindelof for the first team, and in terms of leadership it wasn't even close, the only thing where Lindelof stood out more than Dias was on his technical ability (compared to Dias), and maybe Lindelof had capacity to do more than one position on the field. There is no one who follows youth football who will tell you Lindelof was better. And I don't think Lindelof is as bad as you read here in the forum, but it's understandable coming from fans who followed Rio, Vidic, Stam, etc, compared to those he looks bad of course.
Ok I think that's not an unfair assessment, but surely then you must acknowledge that it's a bigger gamble to go for the CB that is technically inferior yet a better leader (which in large part could very credibly be attributed to Dias' playing in his home country).

If I were working for a big club, I think I'd personally weight technical quality higher than leadership, especially when comparing players from different countries and in different contexts.

That said I don't think there's a huge amount between them but for me Lindelof looked the brighter prospect when he left.
 

SCP

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Ok I think that's not an unfair assessment, but surely then you must acknowledge that it's a bigger gamble to go for the CB that is technically inferior yet a better leader (which in large part could very credibly be attributed to Dias' playing in his home country).

If I were working for a big club, I think I'd personally weight technical quality higher than leadership, especially when comparing players from different countries and in different contexts.

That said I don't think there's a huge amount between them but for me Lindelof looked the brighter prospect when he left.
It's a fair opinion, no problem with that.
 

Noot

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Stones was far from a certainty before this season, in fairness. & Ake is yet to get enough game time to have any sort of opinion on his signing. Outside of Kompany, I’d say Laporte was the one who you would have said, has worked out. I also don’t really recall you guys signing a lot of CB’s though. Otamendi. Who else am I missing?
Nobody, that's my point. We're criticised for buying defenders until we find one that works but it's just not true.
 

UnrelatedPsuedo

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Nobody, that's my point. We're criticised for buying defenders until we find one that works but it's just not true.
In four years You’ve spent half a billion on your defence fella. The point is beyond valid.
 

romufc

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I think Dias has been excellent and generally rate him as one of the best CB around, but in the same time i think he's been overrated on here a bit. I think Maguire has been just as solid albeit in a different team, but would never get the same plaudits.
I agree, Maguire has been just as good. Fans are just too quick to single out mistakes that Maguire makes, some that are not even his fault. Like every corner we concede is his fault.

They also act as if Dias makes no mistakes, I clearly recall the Chelsea semi final ones.

We just have to realise, defenders will make mistakes, problem for Maguire is that fans only look at negative in his game.
 

Stocar

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What distinguishes Dias is leadership and character. In the league, only Van Dijk has that combination of quality (on an even higher level) and natural leadership.
 

Leeuw

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No he wasn't. With the same age (22) Dias already had many more games than Lindelof for the first team, and in terms of leadership it wasn't even close, the only thing where Lindelof stood out more than Dias was on his technical ability (compared to Dias), and maybe Lindelof had capacity to do more than one position on the field. There is no one who follows youth football who will tell you Lindelof was better. And I don't think Lindelof is as bad as you read here in the forum, but it's understandable coming from fans who followed Rio, Vidic, Stam, etc, compared to those he looks bad of course.

With the same age isn't a factor , if I was the one who had to decide if Man Utd. bought Lindelof or DIas at the moment that we bought Lindelhof then I would choose Lindelof above Dias at that moment. But I wouldn't choose Lindelhof above other players at that time. I think that neither were good enough at that moment to be the CB of us. Lindelhof played at Benfica and was several times helped by the referees like we Sporting fans know that happens in Portugal. Players of porto and benfica are much more helped by referees but you like me and every other sportinguista knows that.
 

Camara

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He has been excellent for a long time now.
Even in the NT he always has been magnificent since his first game.

I never understood why people hyped Ferro (he went to the NT how? :lol:) with Dias just there for everyone to see, yes Ferro has good passing but Dias is better at everything else and also knows how to defend.
 

theklr

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I think Dias has been excellent and generally rate him as one of the best CB around, but in the same time i think he's been overrated on here a bit. I think Maguire has been just as solid albeit in a different team, but would never get the same plaudits.
Yeah, beiing a CB in City is a far easier task than for United. Maguire would have been just as good as Dias in that City setup more or less.
 

Pow

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Yeah, beiing a CB in City is a far easier task than for United. Maguire would have been just as good as Dias in that City setup more or less.
lmfao sure, imagine maguire defending high up the pitch with all that space behind him
 

UweBein

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Yeah, beiing a CB in City is a far easier task than for United. Maguire would have been just as good as Dias in that City setup more or less.
Right, if the game had been on the moon, then maybe.
 

Harry190

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Can't help but think he'll be eating a lot of feints next year. A lot of them. He's very good at timing his diving tackles, but he does it A LOT.
 

theklr

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lmfao sure, imagine maguire defending high up the pitch with all that space behind him
Yeah Im sure Pep would have a lot of problems accomodating Maguires deficiencys
 

ryadmahrez

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People underestimate how difficult it is to defend a high line. Your positioning and concentration has to be top notch. You are constantly vulnerable and on edge. Defending in the city system is actually more difficult imo.
 

adexkola

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People underestimate how difficult it is to defend a high line. Your positioning and concentration has to be top notch. You are constantly vulnerable and on edge. Defending in the city system is actually more difficult imo.
Massively. One mistake and you concede a high quality chance on goal.
 

Robbie Boy

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Well deserved - he's been pretty bloody amazing. Himself and Stones have been a great partnership. Crazy to think Laporte lost his place to Stones considering how good he was the last few years.
 

redrobed

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Feel for Bruno - if he played for anyone else in the league he’d have won it. Unfortunately part and parcel of playing for Utd is the FA despise us.
 

Pow

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Massively. One mistake and you concede a high quality chance on goal.
Example off the top of my head is Leeds winner away at City stones let the guy run past him and all he had was space to run into and slot past ederson. The concentration needed needs to be on point to defend that high.
 

Zen86

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People underestimate how difficult it is to defend a high line. Your positioning and concentration has to be top notch. You are constantly vulnerable and on edge. Defending in the city system is actually more difficult imo.
Which is why City routinely chop down the opposition to stop the counter before it begins.
 

Thunderhead

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Feel for Bruno - if he played for anyone else in the league he’d have won it. Unfortunately part and parcel of playing for Utd is the FA despise us.

Erm, it's the FWA, absolutely nothing to do with the FA
 

TrustInJanuzaj

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People underestimate how difficult it is to defend a high line. Your positioning and concentration has to be top notch. You are constantly vulnerable and on edge. Defending in the city system is actually more difficult imo.
To some degree yes, but remember that playing a higher line means the rest of your teammates can disrupt and win the ball higher up the pitch anyway resulting in less defensive actions for the defence. What I’d probably say is that in a high line, possession based team like city, you won’t be expected to do much in defence but you do need to be decisive in the right moments as mistakes will be costly. Dias has done a good job this season of minimising mistakes.
 

Pogue Mahone

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I think Dias has been excellent and generally rate him as one of the best CB around, but in the same time i think he's been overrated on here a bit. I think Maguire has been just as solid albeit in a different team, but would never get the same plaudits.
Funny you should say that. These stats are interesting/surprising.

 

Kostov

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Funny you should say that. These stats are interesting/surprising.

I don't think they are surprising actually, stats wise Harry is one of the best around. The thing is when he is clumsy it catches the eye much more than Dias imo, then you have his 80m price tag, him being english (funny how much stick that gets in the last years) and people can't wait to slate him.

I am not saying he should be except of criticism, but at least United fans, need to appreciate him much more. One of our best players and most important.
 
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Well deserved from Dias, he’s been the best defender in the world this season. Probably favourite for the PFA POTY with Kane and Bruno close.
 

sullydnl

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Funny you should say that. These stats are interesting/surprising.

Not to downplay how good Maguire has been, but defensive stats like that probably need to be adjusted for something like possession in direct comparisons. I would guess that CBs for the likes of Burnley probably fare better than either for that reason, as they just get more opportunity to block, tackle, intercept and clear. Which is on a more extreme level is also why you get this:

 

snk123

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He's not the best defender or the footballer of the year let's be honest. He shows a lot of passion after every tackle and that sways peoples opinion.
 

Bilbo

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Congrats to the player. Great achievement in his first season here.

I think he is one of 5 or 6 players that has a reasonable claim to being best player this season, with no clear standout among them. What it highlights to me is how much word of mouth plays a part in these awards and how players are generally perceived. I do believe that Maguire has been the equal of Dias this season in the same position but the perception of these two players is so different and there really isn't much beyond word of mouth to explain it. The fact that so many of our own fans are not yet sold on, and in fact are quite critical of, Maguire is quite shocking to me.