Kabak looked poor imo.
Virgil van Dijk | Performances
- Thread starter Samid
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I've never watched any of Schalke's games in the Bundesliga but I'm seeing that they conceded 52 goals in 21 games. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
Genuinely thought they'd try to rush him back this season to stay in the race.
I never thought that race would be to stay in the top 4 though.
If they come 5th or lower and don't win the CL they will be a whole world of trouble. The Covid impact plus no CL cash will hurt every club. Just hopes it's not us too. We aren't safe in top 4 yet.
I never thought that race would be to stay in the top 4 though.
If they come 5th or lower and don't win the CL they will be a whole world of trouble. The Covid impact plus no CL cash will hurt every club. Just hopes it's not us too. We aren't safe in top 4 yet.
Tbf I didn’t realise we’d lose every other defender we had too and have consistent injuries everywhere.I Called it in mid October
Chelsea, Everton and West Ham all with games in hand which could possibly land Liverpool in 7th
And yet Kabak is still the best option we have in our current predicament. That's not a slight on our recruitment team, that just shows what a fecked up season this is for us. We won't see the likes again, thank God.
The longer this guy is out, the more he''ll have morphed into a hybrid of peak Baresi and Cannavaro.
Correct decision to be fair.
saw something the other week on the BBC with the headline “is VVD the best ever defender in the PL” or something similar. Beyond a joke.
I do feel for him, superb professional and deserves to represent his country in a big tournament.
Not the best ever but might've reached the highest peak. Same reasoning as people who call Ronaldo the greatest ever PL player purely on ability.
Huge bummer but correct decision for his career I'd say. There's a World cup 15 months later and he preserves his career like this. No Umtiti 2.0.
De Vrij needs to step up, he has been quite colourless so far or injured whenever he has had to.
De Vrij needs to step up, he has been quite colourless so far or injured whenever he has had to.
For me, he's not quite as good as Terry, Ferdinand or Stam. However, it's not like there's a huge skill gap. He's better than someone like Kompany ever was, also I think he's easily as good as Vidic was too.
He's not quite as much a "PL great" as those because they did it for a decade or more, that's what separates them. Certainly not ability imo.
You cant put someone up there who was at his best for around 2 seasons. Will Dias already be a great if he does it next season? Its not even close.
That's what I'm saying though, he's not close to them in terms of "PL great" or anything. He is at least in the same tier if we're talking about who was the better defender at their peak (without looking at trophies, longevity, ... just football and definding ability).
Vidic is the best defender in the history of the EPL.
No other defender was as influential in title wins as he was. 5 titles in 7 seasons. The 2 United didn't win in that period, United had the best defensive record in the league one season and the other Vidic did his ACL and missed most of the season.
In particular when Ronaldo left, that team was completely reliant on the defence and the defence was completely reliant on Vidic.
The disrespect he gets from United fans is absolutely shocking.
I don't think Vidic was better than Ferdinand, I also think van Dijk is as good as Vidic. It's not "disrespect" to hold a different opinion to you, don't be so dramatic
Would have been madness to try and play in the Euros after being out 95% of the season.
Caution has to be his key word, and with the more important world cup the season after, no rush at all.
Caution has to be his key word, and with the more important world cup the season after, no rush at all.
Completely underappreciating his contribution is disrespectful.I don't think Vidic was better than Ferdinand, I also think van Dijk is as good as Vidic. It's not "disrespect" to hold a different opinion to you, don't be so dramatic
Vidic was certainly better than Ferdinand and more influential in the team's success by a long way. One was signed to be club captain. The other one was appointed club captain. There's a reason for that.
Ferdinand was obviously the best defender in PL history, there's not even a debate about it as far as I'm concerned
I can never make up my mind who was better but I always thought Rio was at the top of his game during the 06-08 years where he was the better of the two but after that Vidic was easily our most influential player, as you say. His performances in the title winning season of 08-09 and 10-11 were outstanding.
As for VVD, he obviously makes a huge difference to this Liverpool team. They'll be far better next season with him back again.
Too bad, but we're Holland who gives a feck about defense. Depay and Babel will carry the day. Even Robben might be there now.
I would say Van Dijk in those past two and a half seasons was on par with Ferdinand, Terry, Carvalho, and Vidic. You also have to remember Van Dijk's partners have been nowhere near as good as the others have had.
Thank feck for that. This was probably my second biggest worry after not finishing top four this year (2021).
I would love Robben to win this tournament.
I second this. As good as any of the Italian greats in regards to a modern CB.
Ffs, guy is excellent defender but after 2 great seasons to be even put in same sentence with Rio, Vida, Terry.....
Ridiculous.
Ridiculous.
he also benefits from having very little competition. There are so few decent CBs around.Ffs, guy is excellent defender but after 2 great seasons to be even put in same sentence with Rio, Vida, Terry.....
Ridiculous.
ultimately he’s has two great seasons by the time he’s 30. Like you say, ridiculous. It’s typical Liverpool overrating.
Its a thing about who was the better at his peak, under that logic it does make sense to get him in the conversation. But as an overall great as you say consistency is key, similar to the Ronaldinho argument. Many claim he's the best ever based on that 3 year spell where he was totally amazing but at the same time when talking about all time greats he's not even in the top 10 list.Ffs, guy is excellent defender but after 2 great seasons to be even put in same sentence with Rio, Vida, Terry.....
Ridiculous.
In truth, none are as good as McGrath who could stop a team by himself. Van Djik is pretty much as good as any of the rest, although I'd still prefer Rio. Kompany is underrated in these conversations, Id have him ahead of Vida and Terry. Stam was a beast, I'd also have him ahead of Vida and Terry.
Fergie called Vidic the best a far back as 2007. I always felt confident that anything that came into our box would turn to nothing, there's nothing better than that level of assuredness, and Vidic, not Rio, provided that.
I remember that too (it's on the 06-07 season review I think) but I think Fergie said that Rio needed to be kept in line and not get too cocky and that's why he didn't praise him as much.
Also as I said, I think Rio was the more dominant of the two between 06-08. I remember his performances against Roma and Liverpool in particular as being absolutely immense. Craig Bellamy ran Vidic ragged in one game at Anfield (07 the John O shea game) and Rio was there to bail him out time and time again.
08 onwards Vidic was the better in my opinion. Both were exceptional though.
Vidic was miles better than Kompany who spent most of his years on the treatment table and was always pretty error prone. There’s a reason he’s not mentioned in these conversations and it’s because he’s not even remotely in the same class. Another classic modern City ‘legend’ forced into their pantheon for lack of better alternatives in their history.
I'm not sure that's entirely fair on Kompany. He was a fantastic defender and captained City to four league titles. He also had big moments like that goal against Leicester. I'm not saying he's above Rio or Vidic but to say he's not 'remotely in the same class' feels wrong.
My post is harsh and makes it out that I don’t rate Kompany at all. That couldn’t be further from the truth, he was a very good player on his day and I wouldn’t doubt the impact he had on that City team. Even despite this I think Vidic and Ferdinand are a class above. Ferdinand is the best CB in premier league history for me as he combined everything into a complete package and even has the mentality to boot. Vidic is the best 6 yard defender in premier league history. He remains the best defensive header of a ball I’ve ever seen and was an absolute warrior on the pitch. There’s not shame in Kompany not being in that class in my opinion.
He played less than half the games in his last 2 title wins, it's not like he was still the heart of the team at that point.
No defender was miles better than Kompany, that's make believe stuff. These people played at a similar time so it was easy to make a comparison. There's no way you watched him and thought our defenders are miles better than him. Miles better than their other defenders but not him.
Considering I’ve played CB all my life I probably watched more than most. As I said in my post above. It’s not that I don’t rate Kompany as a good player. It’s just Rio and Vidic remain that much better. Unbelievable individuals, unbelievable partnership. I just don’t see a single attribute that Kompany really beats either in.
I agree. That happens a lot. They should just wait for KDB instead of forcing some of those players into conversations that they don't belong in.