The whole world can see( except united fans) that VVD has brought defending to a new level. No one, not a defender or a striker has been more influential or as had more of an impact than VVD has had on a team after being sold to LFC. To those who say rio,stam, vidic, or any other defenders were better are just living in the past. The consensus is VVD is the CB in the world for the last 3-4 yrs. None of those aforementioned CBs ever were that recognized as such. They were top class in their own right but to put him behind them is just bias at best and bitterness at worst. The fact is he came back from a major injury better than ever and that something you lot didn’t count on.
I get what you're saying, but hear me out - Liverpool were so bad defensively, that any good center back would've been as influential. Don't get me wrong, this worked out well both ways, as the club got a very good played just before the peak if his abilities, and the player himself gained more and more confidence from winning with a big club.
Nobody is denying how good VVD is, he has a great mix of strength, speed and defensive awareness and I for one was gutted that United didn't sign him before Liverpool did. But to say he's brought defending to a new level is a bit over the top. Your claim is as reasonable as saying Ruben Dias is now better than VVD, because he won the league and played in the UCL final.
Finally, VVD has only played on top level for 2 years and has won major honours, yes, but in my opinion it's not enough to be considered an all time PL great. Those other players have done the same for much, much longer and from a younger age.