You can't expect mistakes to not be highlighted when the superlatives are on another level.fecking hell, some people on here will bump this thread every month to tell us he made a mistakeshock horror, tell me one defender that doesnt make the occasional mistake or loses some headers. Godin hasnt looked like a defending god the last few games either. I dont understand what his mistakes a year ago have to do anything with his current version either. He has improved massively since the first few games he made in the league. He was a joke back then.
For some on here, only prime Vidic or Rio
would be good enough.
Virgil Van Dijk
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I was at the Hull Southampton game yesterday and he did look very good on the ball. A bit of a concern though that Hull scored with their only 2 meaningful attacks
Tbh, there wasn't a lot Southampton did wrong with Hull's goals. Snodgrass scored with a great finish and then put a brilliant cross right on Dawson's head - not much the defenders could really do :P For the rest of the game they looked super comfortable.
Perhaps this reasoning could apply to our very own defenders. The same lads that kept the second best defensive record in England last season. In reality, Van Dijk is pretty good but he's no better than what we already have.fecking hell, some people on here will bump this thread every month to tell us he made a mistake
For some on here, only prime Vidic or Rio
would be good enough.
Memphis was had the best goalscoring record before he moved here and he only hit the row z since that in Unite jersey... Tyler Blackett hit the bar from 30metres out from a freekick with a thunderstrike yet he's a shit palyer...Also worth noting he scored several of these in his time at Celtic
Van Dijk so far looks like poor man's David luiz but is considered one of the best CBs in the league already by some experts here...
Also Lovren had a great season next to Fonte, then he got to Liverpool and suddenly turned into shit, Fonte is much better defender
Why do people keep bringing this up? It's painfully obvious to anybody who watched much of United that you didn't have anywhere near the best defense in the league, merely a record flattered by a dull and cautious style of play.
Didn't catch the game myself, but I enjoyed him trying to take responsibility on the ball, against Inter.
Other than the fact they're both comfortable on the ball and can take great free kicks (neither of which are bad things) I don't really get that comparison.
Besides, you say it as if David Luiz is a terrible player. He's been a first team regular for two of Europe's top teams for years now (both of whom are much better than us right now)
Yeah, the ultra negative style we played with 2 DM's distorted things, the other aspect is that van Dijk is much more comfortable on the ball than any of our options bar Blind, who I don't see Jose intentionally using as a CB, he even referred to him as a LB having to play out of position at CB.
Because we had one of the best defensive records in the Premier League. It's there in black and white. It's a fact.
Our style of play was dull, but our back line was incredibly high and susceptible to danger. Van Gaal's defence is a risk/reward strategy.
It's such an obvious and smart signing IMO, it would be like having a taller Blind on PEDs at CB.
He's better than Smalling too, and Smalling is a decent CB himself.
He's better than Smalling too, and Smalling is a decent CB himself.
Saints didn't sell Mane in January last season. I doubt they will sell a key player this January either.
Why would Liverpool need another wide attacker. 
Mane's off to the ACON in January so we'll probably need someone. I think he wants someone younger like Pulisic as a longer term investment anyway.Why would Liverpool need another wide attacker.
Buying a player to replace a guy who'll be away for 1 month? I would have thought the key areas you need ar a CM and a LB.
It depends how Milner's doing by then as far as LB goes. If he's still performing to the level he is now then I don't think we'll go for another one. CM is a possibility given the lack of options in that area. I guess Klopp thinks we need something else in the attacking area. Perhaps another pacey option other than Mane?
I still want us to go for Van Dijk though, even if it's not until the summer.
I think in terms of our defence we're definitely looking at someone who will partner Bailly, as he is undoubtedly our strongest centre half right now. In order to get the best balance we need a slightly more refined defender who will be there to fill in when Bailly has the occasional lapse in judgement (which we've seen a few times already, despite his impressive form).
I think that leaves us two options - we either go for an older guy who's got the experience to know what to do and where to be (a safe bet for short term), or we go for a younger centre half who has a bit more composure to balance out Bailly's raw aggression.
I much prefer the second option despite being slightly riskier as it gives us the chance to hopefully build a strong defensive partnership for years to come, and Van Dijk perfectly fits what we need. He has Smalling's physicality and dominance in the air but couples that with the fact he's great on the ball - Smalling's biggest weakness. He has Blind's intelligence on the ball but has the height, pace and strength Blind doesn't have. It's just a bonus that he takes a great free kick as well.
No he's not the best defender in the league but he's still young and one day he might be up there. And what's more important is he offers the best bits of what both Smalling and Blind give us at CB, so he's a better option than either, and he's 100% attainable for us.
It's a transfer that makes so much sense - I'd love it if we went in for him.
I think that leaves us two options - we either go for an older guy who's got the experience to know what to do and where to be (a safe bet for short term), or we go for a younger centre half who has a bit more composure to balance out Bailly's raw aggression.
I much prefer the second option despite being slightly riskier as it gives us the chance to hopefully build a strong defensive partnership for years to come, and Van Dijk perfectly fits what we need. He has Smalling's physicality and dominance in the air but couples that with the fact he's great on the ball - Smalling's biggest weakness. He has Blind's intelligence on the ball but has the height, pace and strength Blind doesn't have. It's just a bonus that he takes a great free kick as well.
No he's not the best defender in the league but he's still young and one day he might be up there. And what's more important is he offers the best bits of what both Smalling and Blind give us at CB, so he's a better option than either, and he's 100% attainable for us.
It's a transfer that makes so much sense - I'd love it if we went in for him.
VVD is a clear upgrade over every CB we have bar Bailly. I'd take him or Fonte at United in a heartbeat.
looking at other teams even Chelsea whose defence since they went 3 at the back has been amazing, is not full of world class central defenders. Luiz certainly isn't, Liverpool certainly don't have world class centre becks, Arsenal are so so, Spurs have decent ones, City have potential in Stones. There is defo a lack of quality central defenders, Liverpool actually played Lucas leiva at centre half in last match. Chelsea don't necessarily have the best defenders per se but they seemed to have found a system that suits them and essentially with the 3 at the back they are covering themsleves for any Luiz mistakes as you have the coverage in behind him.
I think in a market where world class central defenders are at a premium, I think Van Djik represents excellent value. I really haven't seen enough of Gimenez to make an informed decision on him.
I think in a market where world class central defenders are at a premium, I think Van Djik represents excellent value. I really haven't seen enough of Gimenez to make an informed decision on him.
Just watching the Southampton v Liverpool game and van Dijk is bossing Liverpools forwards. He pretty much has everything and the massive bonus is that he is never injured! This would be a no brainer.
Looks brilliant.
Southampton are entrenched in their own half, I'd expect many players with his height and strength to look great against techno-midgets in his own box.
Absolutely. He's a leader at the back too, exactly what we need.
Well that should've been a penalty there and maybe a red for van Dijk.
MOTM today,
He'd be an upgrade on Smalling.
He'd be an upgrade on Smalling.
I thought he was good at Celtic and good enough to play in the Premier League, we could've taken a gamble on him before he went to Southampton but I guess there's always a chance he could've struggled.
He was lucky not to give away a penalty and get a red card. Smalling would've gotten absolutely rinsed for that. Funnily enough nobody eulogising over him recently did not mention that or just seemed to have stopped posting after that. If people were bothered enough to watch him every week and scrutinise his every move like they do with our players like Smalling, they'd see he's really not an upgrade at all.
How some dont rate him is beyond me. He is an absolute class act.
The thing is he saved Southampton so many times in this game and all the others. Smalling doesnt.
He is an upgrade on Smalling, defensively I'd say both are as good as each other but Van Dijk is about 10 times the player Smalling is on the ball.
That's the difference between the pair.
Oh, right. Yeah, Smalling never saves Manchester United points. Absolutely nutty. Liverpool should've scored countless times btw, van Dijk didn't do much 'saving' anyway, it was more down to Liverpool having 'one of those days' - Coutinho, Clyne and Firmino all missed extremely easy chances that would normally be taken.
His ability on the ball is definitely superior but beyond that he suffers just as many concentration lapses as Smalling, and he is in a far more secure and defensive system. This question as to whether he will deliver as well outside of a side like Southampton and into a side who expect more remains to be seen. Lovren has been since exposed as a joke of a CB, only recently retaining form as a fairly medicore CB, and the same can be said of Schneiderlin as a holding midfielder.
Though the same could be said for Smalling who benefitted in the first part of last season as he had two holding MF's in front of him.
I like Smalling, he's a good CB but I'd prefer Van Dijk because of his ability on the ball. He also chips in with his fair share of goals.
Far too early for me to make a judgement on his defending as I haven't watched enough of him but on the ball this lad is class.
Not even sure he's that great on the ball to be honest, of course he's very accustomed to building from the back and he's pretty good on the ball, but he's no Stefan de Vrij imo.
I'm with Welbz here, very happy for Virgil that he's doing well in the Premier League, but he's got quite a lot to prove before he should be considered on par with Smalling, let alone actually being rated higher.
I'm with Welbz here, very happy for Virgil that he's doing well in the Premier League, but he's got quite a lot to prove before he should be considered on par with Smalling, let alone actually being rated higher.
On current form he's miles ahead of Smalling right now. That's facht.
Some of the people here saying "He's not good enough for Utd" is absolutely crazy
He's one of the best centre-halfs in the Premier League and he has that key aspect that you need...HE CAN DEFEND! unlike some of the defenders I see in the league these days
We need to sign him in January and If we don't and Liverpool do, then Liverpool will win the league
He's one of the best centre-halfs in the Premier League and he has that key aspect that you need...HE CAN DEFEND! unlike some of the defenders I see in the league these days
We need to sign him in January and If we don't and Liverpool do, then Liverpool will win the league
Smelling hasn't actually done anything as the main CB at United. Leading a defense to 5th and 4th place is nothing special. As far as I'm concerned, Smalling still is just at the level of the decent defenders you see in mid-table teams like Jagielka and Ashley Williams at their peak. When he leads a defense like Rio did to the PL and CL, then we can talk.
He is far better than Smalling, not even debatable.
There's myriad examples of players who have looked so good for Southampton people have argued we'd be crazy not to sign them.
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