No he wouldn't. Just like Alderwield vs. Salah in the same game, Alderwield does his best to keep him from cutting in to his left foot. When he does it anyway, its an easy block. You learn at school to try and keep the attacker on their weaker foot. It's second nature for a PL defender.
Virgil van Dijk | Performances
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Matip I feel is a weak link in our current defense. He looks very shaky and I am always worried when he has the ball. The way I rate our defense is VVD>Gomez>Lovren>Matip
People claim there is a lack of top defenders since I’m watching football.
It's kind of true though. You had the likes of Ferdinand, Vidic, Terry, Campbell, ... in the Premier League in the 00s. The only ones coming close to that level of defending over an extended period of time since 2010 are Kompany and perhaps Alderweireld or Vertonghen off the top of my head, but certainly not in the same tier either.
I'm surprised people are struggling with this concept so much. You see it all the time in basketball. Defenders know who the bad shooters are, and they don't bother defending them (they'll double up on the good shooters or clog up the paint instead).
It's not implausible that VVD covered the more dangerous player in Son.
Think people are being too harsh on Sissoko. At that point, he had been sprinting the whole length of the field and vvd was making it hard for him to find angle. Seen much more talented wilt under far less strenuous circumstances.
It's nothing to do with shooters or percentages, defenders are supposed to cut off the passing lane there so the keeper can set himself and focus on the player with the ball.
This really is over the top. If it's not VVD then the narrative is how Spurs messed up a 2 v 1.
At all times? With no consideration for who the players are? Come on.
There is a bit of overhype because it's VVD, yes, I agree.
There's a vast difference between a 2 vs 1 and normal defending where you are forcing players onto their weaker foot....I have no idea why people fail to understand the concept of this
If you commit yourself to the player with the ball in the situation VVD was in, there's a big chance that he'll pass the ball to Son and VVD won't be able to turn and stand a chance of blocking a shot, a defender never wants the ball played to someone behind his back, so instead he positions himself correctly in order to block any passing attempt and wait for Sissoko to commit towards goal, but the end result is still that Sissoko finds himself in an absolutely brilliant position to score but fluffs it. People think it's "200 iq" from VVD because they've been studying Sissoko's shooting, christ.
If it was Harry Kane rushing down instead of Sissoko, i still doubt he'd commit and go for the player with the ball, all that would do is open up space behind him for the player that's behind his back, and if he makes that pass then it's a 1 on 1 where VVD won't stand a chance of turning and putting in a block. It's the only move that makes sense in a situation where you are outnumbered, you isolate the passing option and as soon as the player with the ball goes for goal you do your best to block it.
Yes. Keepers practice one on one in every training session. They need to narrow the angles, stay big etc and that only happens if he's focused on who has the ball.
Is he meant to focus on Son? I don't understand your point?Sissoko is the danger and he needs VVD to take out all other variables for him.
Which he did to be fair to him.
I'm not saying he would have dived in, but there are levels of being more aggressive in closing down the angles depending on the player's ability. And of course defenders are making these calculations. I would hope they are.
You sit in on Liverpool's training sessions? Keepers practice 1 on 1s and I'm sure they practice situations like 2 on 1s.
I still don't know what your point is? I don't have to sit in on their training sessions to know they practice 1-1 and if they do practice 2-1 then its to shut down the passing lane for the keeper to set his angles so one blends into the other...Like they did! Unless they just have Jordan Henderson running through the middle for an hour while they have their defenders assess if he's a bigger danger than Salah before diving in
You quoted me and said, "defenders are supposed to cut off the passing lane there so the keeper can set himself and focus on the player with the ball."
That is an absolute statement that has no consideration for the relative ability of the 2 players in a 2 on 1 situation. That is my argument. And if you continue to insist that the absolute statement is true (because you have some insight on their training sessions that I'm unaware of) then let's agree to disagree
you don't train relative ability assessment? How do you even train for that?
It really is basic defensive drills, there's nothing to disagree with here. You don't have to be Klopps right hand man to know you don't dive in so the ball is played across for a tap in since the keeper is in no mans land not knowing where to position himself.
Nearly every single one of those chances ends in a tap in from a ball played back across an off balance keeper. VVD closed that off. As he is trained to do.
One pass across v diving in VVd would take out both he and the keeper ffs. This is basic stuff here.
It happens all the time in sports! People watch film, understand the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents, and then adjust accordingly.
Have you never heard of keepers knowing the preferences of players' shots in a penalty shootout?
Man look, I agree to disagree
How much tape of Sissoko running through 2 on 1 do you think exists in the world? Or is it more likely that defenders train for the worst case scenario for the optimal outcome?It happens all the time in sports! People watch film, understand the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents, and then adjust accordingly.
Have you never heard of keepers knowing the preferences of players' shots in a penalty shootout?
Man look, I agree to disagree
Look, i agree to disagree but you're arguing for a specific scenario are. How many times is he not up against two attackers in that scenario?
We'll leave it at that, I'm off back to spy on Klopps training sessions.
Mario Melchiot basically confirming what I said as well. Don't know if that's a good thing
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That video angle is beautiful. The two zig zags that VvD does before steaming into Sissoko is orgasmic. Aldeweirald's was nothing like this. Mane and Salah were too close and the covering defender was just a yard away.
If Sissoko scores that people will be saying why didn't he make a decision and go to stop Sissoko shooting? he's standing in no mans land!
A point that everyone seems to be forgetting. Sissoko should score that and if he had done we wouldn't be reading anything about what van Dijk did or didn't do as the reality was he could only do so much in that situation. Yes, what he did, he did correctly, and he was right to force Sissoko to shoot and prevent the pass to Son, but there's some crazy hyperbole about his actions as if he has reinvented the art of defending. Force an attacking player wide and cut off a passing option, it's more rudimentary defending rather than from the school of Maldini. I could probably pick a handful of instances from yesterday's game alone that attest far more to van Dijk's ability than this incident, yet oddly this is what some people are obsessed with. I can recall a challenge he did when it was 1-0 following a cross from the left-hand side that displayed far more defensive nous than his closing down of Sissoko.
Dont think he forced Sisokko wide, Sisokko was central throughout till he decided to shoot
Conversely no one has talked much about Alderweireld for the winning goal
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Pretty sure this thread would be some pages longer if that had been van dijk.
Son isn't wide? He is just on the other side, but he is pretty much as central as Sissoko, the whole way. It is a 2vs1 so If Van Djik commits to one side in the wrong moment, especially too early, then either player is guaranteed to get a free shot on goal with a lot of time before the shot, might even be a 2vs1 against the goalkeeper for a tap in. He really doesn't need to be rainman to immediately recognise that Son is the one you don't want to have the ball when running against you, and you especially don't want him to finish that counter.
Sissoko is not a slow player so if he moves closer while trying to close the angle for a pass at the same time, he'll likely get outpaced and Sissoko can pass to Son for the tap in. I mean, it is great defending it really is. Having Sissoko questioning his decision on the ball is favourable to many other outcomes there, he could even end up taking a bad touch and ruin it. I would never bet on Sissoko hitting the target if rushed to make a quick decision of taking a shot he clearly doesn't want to take. Son on the other hand.
Probably because its the keepers fault, watch the full clip
The best in the league this year, but he’s been elevated to this position of an unbeatable monster who’s almost changing defence.
He let Sissoko go on his weak foot, but a player at that level with a free shot on goal should score regardless. He covered the pass to Son, but Sissoko still had a free shot. He was against 2, so there’s not much he could do, but this weird over the top praise of everything he does is baffling.
He let Sissoko go on his weak foot, but a player at that level with a free shot on goal should score regardless. He covered the pass to Son, but Sissoko still had a free shot. He was against 2, so there’s not much he could do, but this weird over the top praise of everything he does is baffling.
I agree. I'd say he's been marginally better than the next best defender (Laporte), and clearly, yet not significantly, better than the other top tier defenders this season.
A lot of hype is being made of it, I get the feeling you could let Sissoko shoot from just about anywhere and he would miss. Covering Son seems a no brainer decision with his finishing ability vs Sissoko, not some Einsteinesque defensive decision making.
Sissoko still had a clear shot on goal with this piece of unbelievable never seen before GOAT defending. If Lindelof had of done this he would have probably been slagged for not closing him down.
Have people not played football? What VVD did was a no-brainer in the circumstances. As others have said, if it was Kane running at him I wonder how he would’ve reacted.
How can allowing any player to shoot from a central position 10 yards from goal only be a 25% chance? If Sissoko wasn't such a twunt. he'd have calmly rolled that into the net no problem. It's just pure fluke Spuds didn't score, nothing to do with the defending.
Matip is the plonker who rushed in leaving us 1v2. Gomez cant come back soon enough.
Lloris makes him kick the grass when he has a chance of clearing it on the line?
He might be the best in the league right now but who else can be considered as a top CB in PL?
If Rio, Vidic, Terry are still around, He would not even be considered the best.
If Rio, Vidic, Terry are still around, He would not even be considered the best.
Liverpool fans would consider VVD the best even if Beckenbauer and Baresi were playing in the league right now. In general, biases are strong with football fans, especially with those of Liverpool. There is a reason why rawk is rawk. They don't want their biases get challenged and prefer to live in a bubble. All fans seem prone to exaggeration though. Remember the "Is Smalling the best CB in the league" thread?
I think he’s very good, but 56 pages on our rivals player?
Bloody hell!
Bloody hell!
Yes he pulls out as Lloris goes for the ball a second time, and then pulls out himself.
If you look at United's goals against column pre-Vidic, you'll see that Ferdinand only really became the world class player he did when paired with him on a regular basis. It's only VVD's first full season with us, but given our forwards haven't been firing on all cylinders the way they were last season, you have to look at the big Dutchman as being the primary reason we're still in the hunt for the title against a dominant City side. United were winning titles for fun well before Rio joined the club, so he obviously had nowhere near the impact that Van Dijk is having for us.
That was my first thought when reading some of the stuff written on here. Any good coach would teach you to split the attackers when faced with a 2 v 1 situation, & not commit yourself until you need to. Spurs were always going to get an opportunity to score from that situation on Sunday, but by doing what he did, VVD made sure that Sissoko had to get past him, & then the keeper, if he wanted to score. Had he gone for the ball, then the simple pass inside was on, leaving the other Spurs player with just the goalkeeper to beat. He played the percentages game. It was textbook defending.
Not true though. Last season the front 3 scored 57 league goals, this season they are on 46 with 6 games to go. They will probably reach 55. Generally, you will score 80+ league goals which will be the same return as last season. Besides, Klopp seems to have tweaked the system a bit so that you have more stability defensively wise. To equate your defensive stability with VVD's contributions alone would be naive.