I don't think even Neuer got so much shit for his knee smash on Higuain in the world cup final.
Well it is due to Higuain not being a Dipper. If he was, then he would've been granted automatic Sainthood on signing and after that incident, Neuer would've been facing calls for attempted murder.
So Liverpool have a 75% win rate with van Dijk in the team and a 40% win rate without. I think they are in trouble and quite frankly with the abuse I've got from Liverpool supporters the past couple of years I'm delighted for them.
I feel exactly the same. VVD is essentially the one that allows them to play that ridiculous high line as he is the one that marshalls the line and he has excellent reading of the game and has good recovery pace. Not sure they can continue to look so solid without him there. This goes double as VVD has an aura of a world class CB which means others teams don't attack him as much as they should, similar to Terry and Ferdinand.
He is a Scouser himself, in fairness. He's a fantastic player but I do think it helps his repuatation that he's the only world class CB in the league, in fact there's actually not that many top class CBs in general any more. If he was in another generation he'd still be considered world class but he wouldn't garner as much hype as he has. I know Liverpool fans keep trying to convince us he's better than Terry, Ferdinand and Vidic but I don't see it myself, I think people have just forgotten how brilliant those three were.
Agreed. VVD is a excellent player and perhaps the de facto NO.1 CB in the world, or top 3 at least. However, there are some mitigating factors:
1) He is playing in an incredibly poor generation of CB's.
2) He hasn't played long enough at the top level or shown this level for long enough. For me, the single most important aspect of greatness is longevity. VVD has been super for 3-4 years now but Rio, and Terry were great for 10-12 years. That is why I would always put those two above anyother other PL CB (as well as them being top class.)
Imo, VVD is currently in Vidic or Carvalho territory in that he is clearly a world class player but he still needs to do it a bit longer before he can start getting into the Goat discussions. Further, I would say Kompany is above him also, but he is a bit of a funny one to judge because of all his injuries. I have Kompany sort of in the Adams territory where they are probably above Vidic and Carvalho but under Rio and Terry.