In-depth tactical analysis of the iconic Virgil Van Dijk. Has he surpassed the likes of Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Nemanja Vidic and other defensive stalwarts of the Premier League era? How does he compare to the likes of Baresi? What are his key tactical attributes and more importantly… just how good is he?
#vandijk #liverpoolfc #lfc #liverpoolvsmanchesterunited
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49 Comments
A good video idea would be to breakdown Fergusons tactics and give us an idea of how we would fare in the modern game.
VVD Roll Royce of a defender
How about Ramos
please analyse barella next
Koeman, Beckenbaur, Marquez and Pique were better on the ball than him. Didn't bail out of duels like he does. Backtracks till he gets cover.
VVD is the best CB ever. He's bigger, stronger, quicker than everyone. I've never seen a CB make defensive actions look so easy. Doesn't matter who his defensive partner is he's got the defence locked down. He also plays for the most attacking team in Europe, Liverpool can only do this on a consistent basis because of him. He's most certainly the best in PL history that's not even a conversation.
I still think you're underrating him. The chaos that went down at Liverpool when he went down is something I've never seen before, even with an attacking player. The amount of mistakes he fixes for that whole backline along is incredible, with/without Alisson. We've seen him go up vs the best sides' players, and do incredibly well.
I don't think that he specifically needs another trophy since those are team accomplishments, I mean if Karius does not have a concussion and Trent does not sleep everytime he faces Vini, he'd have 3 UCL by now. The Dutch side has not been elite since 2014 and we cannot blame him for that too, even if his team has a strong Euros, unless he completely shows us something new in his game, I don't think he can look any better than he is now.
Really well put together analysis! And I think you probably nailed all the difficult aspects and got to a pretty fair conclusion. I would probably have ranked Van Dijk lower than you did, but I think you backed your opinions well enough that it's hard to disagree too much.
Franco Baresi is the goat imo. He was just stupid good.
GOAT? He's just a good addition to another central defender. He cannot be compared to Ferdinand, Ramos and Bonucci. Yes, he is better than many current central defenders, but this is not a consequence of his intellectual abilities, but rather a massive degradation of this position in the world of football
Ball carrying his not so good , passing he’s not really got the numbers , tackling his not so great . What’s the noise and hype about him that makes the modern day fan compare him to names like vidic x terry x Rio who are monsters . I don’t understand this current fan base there football knowledge is too myopic for me 😢
In this generation it’s a joke, he is the most composed dominating defender of all time, his tackling isn’t something considered as his flaw due to the fact that flair wingers like Henry, romario, all those that you mentioned are leaving the modern game. Van dijk’s a convincing alias for best defender of all time because he doesn’t need to tackle to dominate like a beckenbeuer or maldini, he is the modern representation of THAT defender who can impose highest difficulty against any attacker through football IQ and awareness which is much more crucial in football to win games consistently and only lose 1 game at anfield in the premier league in his entire career
If you ask Messi fans, Messi's best year was 2019. Van Dijk finished 2nd in the 2019 Ballon D'or, a few points behind Messi.
Also you are weighing the trophies too much. Ultimately, this depends on the sources of the club you are in. Come on man, we all have eyes. All the other CBs you mentioned in the video had serious flaws as well as their excellent qualities. Whereas Van Dijk has almost no flaws. He can do even the worst thing to a certain standard.
I'm disappointed. I expected a more objective evaluation from you.
0.05 slide tackles per 90?? 😂 Thats mad, that's a tackle every 20 games or so
He is not the undisputed goat of epl CBs. It's very difficult to pick one, but VVD is not it. One of the prem greats no doubt.
I think you are downplaying Vandjik and rio as well . But really like the video . Just One negative u didn't keep the same energy with comparing old gen to new gen system and abilities like u claimed with vvd with old gen . Keep the hardwork bro . Good video .
Very fair and objective rating I think the injury definitely reduced his confidence but he can reach these heights if Ruben Amorim turns out to be another goat level manager.
Objective as per would love more of this for similar players. Players almost at the end but still on top and can further better their legacy
Do one on Ramos, wanna see how he compare to the likes of VVD. Because in this videos you didn’t even one ramos attribute (like even pique was mentioned once lol)
A good tactician would win the Euros with the Netherlands
Finally 😮
I think you’re underrating him
Mbappe, Neymar, Ronaldo, Messi, Suarez, Aguero, Lewondowski. I think Van Djik Resume is more than impressive. Especially with Mbappe I think he has proved that ur claim that he can’t defend quick and agile attackers is incorrect.
I have said it before, the 16/17 season of Van Dijk is the best season of a defender in EPL history.
The best defender to ever play in the EPL Stam.
Just imagine van dijk and Ramos next each other
Vidic, Terry, VVD, Rio, Adams. I think these are the top 5 CBs of PL era. The order can change based on your suitability
I mean, you do you know that the era they're playing in has to be taken into consideration. Best modern one, for sure.
Ronald araujo is a younger more complete version of Van Dijk Araujo is just better in probably in every metric besides maybe passing but I would also argue that
I had no idea Marquinhos was this broken in possession
Terry, Ferdinand rarely played in a high line with attacking fullbacks, they played in a era when it was more about physicality then tactics. In this era the way top teams play with so much tactics involved it would have been difficult for them to play just like you don't see VVD doing good against Henry I don't see the other retired defenders performing in this era. The way how coordinated the team presses & stops the forward pass I also don't see any of the retired defenders making a huge number of dribbles without making mistakes.
Football has changed a lot now it is more about the team formations & tactics, I can remember every ball playing defender in the 90s would just dribble past everyone & now it can't be done coz of how good the press is from teams.
VVD is definitely one of the greatest defenders of all time.
Do rodri
My only issue with van dijk as a centre back is his box defending very unwilling to engage attackers therefore giving them time and space to get shots off at goal. It’s too massive of a flaw to ignore. He seems hesitant and gassed by the amount of running he does at times maybe that’s why he constantly lets attackers have shots at goal could also be because he trusts Allison that much but in crucial moments for club and country Vs the best itw like aguero Suarez Benzema he’s been punished for it and it’s why he’s been heavily criticised by Dutch legends for not taking command.
whilst I think he has a case to be the goat prem cb one major sticking point for me has been the level of strikers he’s faced in the premier league during his peak has been at an all time low. Harry Kane is the only elite striker in his prime thats coincided with VVDs prime and Kane has consistently come up trumps Vs Liverpool. Rio and JT saw far stiffer competition midtable teams still had players like Anelka yakubu Viduka that were massive handfuls never mind your Rooney Drogba Henry Torres etc.
Overall he’s still a great cb but he still has more to do to take the prem goat label
Do JT next
You didn't show how much he sits off defender's and doesn't engage. For me his biggest weakness.
do rodri lol
Different game now I get that, but difference with defenders like Rio is that back then, there would be a lot of one v ones against elite strikers. Pure chaos and less structured. Ability wise I think Rio could adapt and thrive amongst the best in this era, I don't think many of the modern cbs could in his.
Vvd is exceptional and think he could, but I don't think he would look as good imo
Stam for me was the best fwiw. Would be considered the best if he stayed in the prem longer
Van Dijk rarely faces attackers like the legends of the past – Ronaldo (original one), Ronaldinho, or even Henry. But saying a defender can't be the greatest because of the era is weak. Football's totally different now.
The game's faster, players are smarter, and everyone's more athletic. Teams are coached better, academies are top-notch. Comparing today's players to 20 years ago? No contest.
Here's the thing about Van Dijk: He stands out even in this era of great players and strong teams. He's got everything – pure strength, speed, ball control, heading, and passing. A complete package with elite athleticism that shines even now.
Think of Van Dijk like a LeBron James or Calvin Johnson of football. They dominate physically, setting a new standard for their sport. Just like Henry for his era, or Maldini and Desailly, Van Dijk defines his generation.
Who's the absolute greatest defender? It's tough. You gotta consider achievements, era difficulty, and overall skill. But one thing's for sure: Van Dijk deserves a spot in the "greatest ever" conversation.
I really like the objectivity of this analysis videos, I do not feel the biases although I know those are inherent to human judgement. Even the comments are mostly based instead of being favor-ridden opinions. Very likeable ❤
A top CB but could not dominate more than one season.I won't put him on the same level as Adams,Terry,Vidic.
Can you do a saka video
Look at rival fans doing everything possible to discredit van Dijk, he’s one of the greats oat deal with it
Great video. Finally… you analyze a legend. Been waiting for a video like this. Excellent content.
Would love a video on Beckenbauer, Baresi, Maldini, Nesta, and Terry just to name few.
In due time, hopefully.
He is the most complete defender of all time. Not necessarily the best but if you look at every aspect of his game, he is good if not very good. He is big, strong, quick, amazing in the air, reads the game very well, switched on, very good on the ball, rarely gives the ball away and composed. He's probably the best long range passing defender I've seen. And to top it off he's a leader. Someone who doesn't shirk responsibility and demands the best of others… Like I said probably the most complete centre back ever.
Matip and Gomez aren't mediocre.
All those old players would last 5 min in the premier league VVD is better than all of them
PIB, I'm curious to know what your top 10 all-time centre-back list looks like.
I don't think you can get an accurate gauge on his ball carrying in Liverpool because it's always the other CB who carries the ball. Also, there hasn't been another "illusive attacking" CB in the Premier League for the last 10 years, so I don't think that it is a criteria anymore, or at least there are no more apples around to compare with.
You boys gonna do a Cubarsi video?
Bro i think you should do Pau Cubarsi next. Imo the closest player to Beckenbaur in the modern game
Saliba will end up bring head and shoulder above all of them.