Topic: Virgil Van Dijk (Cpt)

[cowtownred]

Remember the anger people had over Sakho leaving?

Yeah. Really odd wasn’t it?

Insane.  Polar opposites?  The flappiest, least in control defender I can remember (maybe even more than Djimi), versus the calmest, most composed, ball playing centre half on the planet.

'He's our centre half, he's our number 4....'

[Charlie Adams fried egg]

Insane.  Polar opposites?  The flappiest, least in control defender I can remember (maybe even more than Djimi), versus the calmest, most composed, ball playing centre half on the planet.

'He's our centre half, he's our number 4....'

I've certainly learned a lesson here and I should have known better when a charlatan like Ayre was describing him as a marquee signing.
When I first saw a couple of the errors, I thought it wasn't a true reflection and the odd error was the price for an overall great talent because we wouldn't have bought him otherwise would we?

In reality it just showed how hit and miss our scouting and recruitment was and that Ayre was too keen to brag about what he'd brilliantly managed to negotiate (in other words Paris had him taped and wanted to get rid). If he'd have been properly scouted we'd have seen the severe limitations that he has.

It's also a lesson to all of us not to elevate players to cult status on the back of a bit of community work and a few soundbites on social media.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Remember the anger people had over Sakho leaving?

Yeah. Really odd wasn’t it?

People on here had a weird infatuation with him as he was Maldini. He was part of a back four that conceded 40 goals a season on average and often would be fault for some of the goals. 

[Yorkykopite]

People on here had a weird infatuation with him as he was Maldini. He was part of a back four that conceded 40 goals a season on average and often would be fault for some of the goals. 

He was also a deadly supplier of hard hit passes into central midfield.

And I mean "deadly" in the sense that they instantly killed the poor midfielder who received them. Sakho seemed to think that if one of his smashed passes actually reached its intended target he'd done his job, regardless of whether the target already had two opponents right next to him ready to pounce.

[PoetryInMotion]

Agreed with the above two posts on Sakho.

Matip & Lovren are way better CBs overall, never mind Gomez & Van Dijk. We've done well to move on some players under Klopp who didn't suit us or were not up to the level. Sakho was one of them.

[Mr_Shane]

Sakho... crazy, unpredictable defender.  , but we have moved on.

[penga]

Anyone got a comparison of VVD against all the other CBs in Europe for that dribbled past stat for the whole season in the league and Europe (accounting for x amount of minutes played)? Also if possible how does it compare to previous great CBs' seasons if the stats are still available. Just interested to see/compare how truly insane it is that he still hasn't been dribbled past.

[ThePoolMan]

Insane.  Polar opposites?  The flappiest, least in control defender I can remember (maybe even more than Djimi), versus the calmest, most composed, ball playing centre half on the planet.

'He's our centre half, he's our number 4....'

To be fair Sakho was in fact one of our better defenders at the time and he was much more composed than he appeared to be, His passing was in fact excellent though he looked clumsy due to the unusual technique that he employed. Comparing him to Traore is bizarre to me as he was miles better than the latter.

[Jack The Lad]

People on here had a weird infatuation with him as he was Maldini. He was part of a back four that conceded 40 goals a season on average and often would be fault for some of the goals.

Sakho was that good there was only West Brom and Crystal Palace in for him. Massively overrated player when he was here.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

To be fair Sakho was in fact one of our better defenders at the time and he was much more composed than he appeared to be, His passing was in fact excellent though he looked clumsy due to the unusual technique that he employed. Comparing him to Traore is bizarre to me as he was miles better than the latter.

That's not saying much considering Skrtel was as the club, and a broken down Agger.

[JCB]

Anyone got a comparison of VVD against all the other CBs in Europe for that dribbled past stat for the whole season in the league and Europe (accounting for x amount of minutes played)? Also if possible how does it compare to previous great CBs' seasons if the stats are still available. Just interested to see/compare how truly insane it is that he still hasn't been dribbled past.

If you're really interested in looking for this, the best advice I can give you is to look at whoscored.com. Not something I generally recommend but it's probably the best method for this stat.

Under the player stats, there's a defensive tab which has a Drb Column (Dribbled Past Per game p90). Not necessarily a straightforward task but you can at least compare certain players this way. I had a quick gander at the Top 10 Premier league teams and these CBs also had no dribbled past per game and had played more than 90 mins - (mins are included):

Virgil Van Dyke     (2935)
Vincent Kompany   (993)
Wes Morgan          (1836)
Mason Holgate      (407)


And to put this into context:
Laporte, Otamandi & Stones all have a score of 0.3 (ie get dribbled past once every 3.3 games)
Koulibally 0.5
Pique 0.4
Godin 0.7
Ramos 0.6

[penga]

If you're really interested in looking for this, the best advice I can give you is to look at whoscored.com. Not something I generally recommend but it's probably the best method for this stat.

Under the player stats, there's a defensive tab which has a Drb Column (Dribbled Past Per game p90). Not necessarily a straightforward task but you can at least compare certain players this way. I had a quick gander at the Top 10 Premier league teams and these CBs also had no dribbled past per game and had played more than 90 mins - (mins are included):

Virgil Van Dyke     (2935)
Vincent Kompany   (993)
Wes Morgan          (1836)
Mason Holgate      (407)


And to put this into context:
Laporte, Otamandi & Stones all have a score of 0.3 (ie get dribbled past once every 3.3 games)
Koulibally 0.5
Pique 0.4
Godin 0.7
Ramos 0.6

Cheers

[JC the Messiah]

Loved his celebration when Trent's pass found Salah, even before Salah had taken the shot to score!

Anyone got a video of that?

[stockdam]

Nice goal tonight......pity it wasn't a "no look Bobby" type goal.

[stockdam]

Fuck he looked angry tonight.

I think he had a word with some of their attackers for cheating.

[TepidT2O]

Thye had a player clean through..

He sprints past him and brushed him off the ball.

Exceptional.

[redgriffin73]

Loved his celebration when Trent's pass found Salah, even before Salah had taken the shot to score!

Anyone got a video of that?

He's done that a few times now hasn't he? Virgil knows. [emoji41]

[duvva 💅]

Loved the fact he scored whilst the crowd were already singing his song, just to acknowledge them

[FlashGordon]

Loved the fact he scored whilst the crowd were already singing his song, just to acknowledge them

Was perfect, had a feeling it would happen at some stage.

[jooneyisdagod]

Is going to win the iron throne. You heard it here first.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[Redcap]

Thye had a player clean through..

He sprints past him and brushed him off the ball.

Exceptional.

Not to take away from the performance overall, but I thought the Porto player had made a bad touch and lost the ball.

Still, it could have gone a different way. A less calm defender could have slid in and given the ref a decision to make about a penalty.

[jckliew]

When was the last time Big Virgil slid in to tackle an attacker, and ended on his rear end?

[Rainbow Laces]

The Porto player getting through was offside anyway, so you could say "Good offside trap, ta very much".

[RyanBabel19]

Thye had a player clean through..

He sprints past him and brushed him off the ball.

Exceptional.

Another great example of how he reads the game, no rush of blood to the head, no diving in, just calm cool and covers the space the attackers looking to move into instead of getting drawn directly to the ball

[rowan_d]

Another great example of how he reads the game, no rush of blood to the head, no diving in, just calm cool and covers the space the attackers looking to move into instead of getting drawn directly to the ball

Knowing you've got pace in your locker when you need it must make it so much more simple when you're chasing back like that. Every other CB we've had recently aside from Gomez probably ends up trying a hooked slide tackle from the back in that situation.

[RedG13]

When was the last time Big Virgil slid in to tackle an attacker, and ended on his rear end?

Mertens at Anfield where he a got yellow because caught him after it.

[Armand9]

like watching a rolls-royce in a traffic jam, and the last time i recall seeing it that way was watching hansen (and i dont mean just watching liverpool games, i mean ever)

[Peabee]

Thye had a player clean through..

He sprints past him and brushed him off the ball.

Exceptional.

Best CB in the world. I’m in awe of him when I see him play. I think he’ll go on to be a great manager too. He’s obviously super intelligent and reads the game better than anyone else on the pitch.

[Lofty Ambitions]

VVD at the Nou Camp. Been there, done that.

https://twitter.com/DaveOCKOP/status/1118973053210435584


Edit don't know how to embed twitter video, if anyone knows please do.

[Samio]

VVD at the Nou Camp. Been there, done that.

https://twitter.com/DaveOCKOP/status/1118973053210435584


Edit don't know how to embed twitter video, if anyone knows please do.

Let’s hope he doesn’t ‘do the same result’ with us.

Lost 6-1.

[Lofty Ambitions]

Let’s hope he doesn’t ‘do the same result’ with us.

Lost 6-1.

Meh. Details who wants them

[deano2727]

Best defender in the world against the best player in the world. Quite the battle to look forward to. If anyone can stop Messi, its big Virgil.

In saying that, wouldn't mind Messi pulling a hamstring in the coming games.

[Samio]

Best defender in the world against the best player in the world. Quite the battle to look forward to. If anyone can stop Messi, its big Virgil.

In saying that, wouldn't mind Messi pulling a hamstring in the coming games.

Will likely be wrapped in cotton wool for their La Liga games. And by that, I mean at home with his feet up.

[Red Beret]

Best defender in the world against the best player in the world. Quite the battle to look forward to. If anyone can stop Messi, its big Virgil.

In saying that, wouldn't mind Messi pulling a hamstring in the coming games.

Not just Virgil. Messi will also be up against one of the best keepers in the world.

[Rainbow Laces]

Has VVD been dribbled past yet? I'm hoping that that magical little shite won't be the first to do so, but if anyone can it's Messi. Someone take him out for some dodgy chicken at the start of May please.

[AmanShah21]

It'll be his hardest test yet. But Fabinho will be the one who'll have to do the job on Messi because positionally, he'd have to be the one to stick close and cut out passes to the GOAT. Virgil might actually hold the key to nicking a goal at set pieces because Barca isnt the tallest or strongest sides and I think we'll have a chance from every corner as long as we consistently beat the first man.

[JCB]

The BBC'c own little Player of the Year Poll: VVD Wins hands down, hopefully a barometer of the real thing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47981729

[Red_Rich]

Has VVD been dribbled past yet? I'm hoping that that magical little shite won't be the first to do so, but if anyone can it's Messi. Someone take him out for some dodgy chicken at the start of May please.

Sane at Anfield for the penalty is the only obvious one I can think of.

[No666]

The Times reckons he's won the PFA Player of the Year, Sterling to be Football Writers' choice.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/virgil-van-dijk-and-raheem-sterling-to-be-players-of-the-year-8d87lxvfw

[TepidT2O]

They hadn’t finished voting for the sports writers yesterday so I’m not sure how they’d know