Also, Ronaldo played A LOT more football than TAA has done, to a far higher level... not really a sensible comparison.

Didn’t ronaldo win ballon dor at Utd aswell? Bit of an strange comparison. And I still wouldn’t even say ronaldo was the greatest pl player anyway,
To say Taa is the best of the pl era is silly, not even going to mention Neville but someone like azpilicuetas defensive performances were on par with TAA’a recent attacking performances but for a longer period, Ivanovic also was an all action perfect defensive and attacking rb for Chelsea for a good 3/4 years, I’d still have Neville on top but people’s memory’s are short of were putting TAA as the greatest in the pl era. Might be on his way though

Agreed - it’s a classic delusion though of a lot of fans, thinking that the quality they’re watching at that time is the best ever.

We’ve all done it, the difference is whether you can step back and admit it, I think.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

comment by Nickasaurus (U9257)
posted 6 hours ago
I feel VVD may have left it too late to be number 1 even once his career is done. Trophy wise individually and as a team he is so far behind other players. Lets be honest some of these players have had sensational seasons (JT, carvahlo, rio,vidic, vvd) so put someone 1 after just 1 season is ridiculous. He needs to do it for 5 or more to catch up imo.
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I disagree. We’re talking about a player who is competing with Lionel Messi for the Ballon D’orr.

No premier league defender has reached his level. PFA player of the year, CL, Ballon D’orr runner up.

Got 2 and a half seasons now, he’s been the top defender on the planet.

This talk of “he needs to do it for 5 years” is up there with “Messi has to win a World Cup”. It’s a nonsense.

Top defender on the planet?

Hyperbole much?

He’s a good, not great defender, but his main attributes are attacking ones,

Sorry, ignore that, thought we were talking about TAA still

That’ll teach me to read properly

Funny how the Ballon D’or becomes the key metric when it suits.

Does that mean that Lampard was better than Gerrard, even when Gerrard was at his best?

Let’s be honest, there are lots of reasons for the vote and nominations going the way it does, and it’s far too simplistic to say VVD is on another level to any other PL defender because of that.

What’s nonsense is saying no other defender in PL history has reached Van dijk’s level.

comment by Wahl Icht - (U22332)
posted 52 minutes ago
What’s nonsense is saying no other defender in PL history has reached Van dijk’s level.
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I think that's a fair comment. If you think about the top ten and their best attribute, VVD is as good, if not better at all of them. Adams heading, Ferdinand pace, Terry, Carragher, last ditch blocks and leadership, Carvalho ability on the ball etc. VVD is as good if not better than all of them, he has no real weaknesses.

comment by Winston (U16525)
posted 1 hour, 31 minutes ago
Funny how the Ballon D’or becomes the key metric when it suits.

Does that mean that Lampard was better than Gerrard, even when Gerrard was at his best?

Let’s be honest, there are lots of reasons for the vote and nominations going the way it does, and it’s far too simplistic to say VVD is on another level to any other PL defender because of that.
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Its not when it suits. We’re talking about the here and now and Van Dijk has been the standout defender on the planet for 2 and a half seasons. It doesn’t look likely to change much either.

The Lampard / Gerrard issue doesn’t come into it. Both were world class and Lampard had an outstanding season.

But for a defender to be recognised as 2nd best player behind Messi (some argue he should’ve won it) is truly outstanding.

It’s also not simplistic. It’s an opinion and one which Vincent Kompany recently agreed with.

Van Dijk is a transformational signing that has been dribbled past on only a handful of occasions in the last couple of years.

So to echo VC, he is for me, at his peak, the best defender the PL has ever seen.

It is when it suits.

You’re using his position in the Ballon D’or as a metric when we all know that if we used the same metric to conclude that Lampard was better than Gerrard, you’d argue against it.

That alone tells us that it’s an unreliable metric.

You’re entitled to the opinion that he’s the best defender that the PL has ever seen, but if you use metrics that are unreliable or flawed then be prepared for someone to pick you up on it.

IMO, it’s a ridiculous opinion given how good the likes of Ferdinand and Campbell were on domestic, European and International stages - for quite some time.

Terry didn't play in and win a CL final so wouldn't out him top. Always felt Terry got too much credit in a solid defence that always had some top tier players along side him...I get he was the captain and the mouth in the dressing room but not sure ability wise he was as good as many claim.

Great leader. Great defender. Not the best though in my view as Chelsea were a force all across the pitch back then splashing wads of cash on who ever they wanted.

comment by FootyMcfootfoot (U21853)
posted 2 minutes ago
Terry didn't play in and win a CL final so wouldn't out him top. Always felt Terry got too much credit in a solid defence that always had some top tier players along side him...I get he was the captain and the mouth in the dressing room but not sure ability wise he was as good as many claim.

Great leader. Great defender. Not the best though in my view as Chelsea were a force all across the pitch back then splashing wads of cash on who ever they wanted.
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I don't like this idea that team achievements put players ahead of others, when talking about the individual. Yes it can add weight but I like to use the individuals ability when deciding who was the best individually. I always felt Terry was underrated as he wasn't a very likeable guy but he was an outstanding defender. However if you compare to VVD, he is also an outstanding defender but is quicker, as good in the air and much better with the ball at his feet.

comment by FootyMcfootfoot (U21853)
posted 4 minutes ago
Terry didn't play in and win a CL final so wouldn't out him top. Always felt Terry got too much credit in a solid defence that always had some top tier players along side him...I get he was the captain and the mouth in the dressing room but not sure ability wise he was as good as many claim.

Great leader. Great defender. Not the best though in my view as Chelsea were a force all across the pitch back then splashing wads of cash on who ever they wanted.
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I completely agree with this.

Particularly felt it when AVB tried to play a higher line and he was exposed.

I sometimes question my opinion on this but have never rated him quite as highly as the others in this position.

TOOR, your biased opinions in these discussion are pointless.

comment by There'sOnlyOneRed's (U1721)

comment by Wahl Icht - (U22332)

What’s nonsense is saying no other defender in PL history has reached Van dijk’s level.
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I think that's a fair comment. If you think about the top ten and their best attribute, VVD is as good, if not better at all of them. Adams heading, Ferdinand pace, Terry, Carragher, last ditch blocks and leadership, Carvalho ability on the ball etc. VVD is as good if not better than all of them, he has no real weaknesses.
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Van Dijk is almost 29 and all he's ever won are a couple of SPL titles and a measly 1 CL. He's not proven himself at a World Cup or a Euros either.

The way LFC fans talk about him you'd think he was Sergio Ramos or Franz Beckenbauer or something.

comment by #LiquidGenius (U20571)
posted 34 minutes ago
comment by There'sOnlyOneRed's (U1721)

comment by Wahl Icht - (U22332)

What’s nonsense is saying no other defender in PL history has reached Van dijk’s level.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I think that's a fair comment. If you think about the top ten and their best attribute, VVD is as good, if not better at all of them. Adams heading, Ferdinand pace, Terry, Carragher, last ditch blocks and leadership, Carvalho ability on the ball etc. VVD is as good if not better than all of them, he has no real weaknesses.
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Van Dijk is almost 29 and all he's ever won are a couple of SPL titles and a measly 1 CL. He's not proven himself at a World Cup or a Euros either.

The way LFC fans talk about him you'd think he was Sergio Ramos or Franz Beckenbauer or something.
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Teams win trophies.

Otherwise Traore should be in the discussion alongside VVD as he played for Liverpool when they won the CL.

What teams don't do is get second in world player of the year votes or get named UEFA player of the year, win PL player of the year.

Ramos? Wise up.

It’s a fair point though isn’t it... the apparent best defender the PL has ever seen has had two good seasons at the very top level.

That puts a major question mark against the claim, before we even get into the debate about his actual playing ability right now vs the others.

On this, I wonder where TOOR ranked Torres in the PL era when he was setting the league on fire at Liverpool vs when he left the league.

Sergio Ramos>VVD no argument

The one thing we can certainly rank as number 1 without any questions is that Liverpool fans are the most biased.

comment by Spurtle (U1608)
posted 26 minutes ago
The one thing we can certainly rank as number 1 without any questions is that Liverpool fans are the most biased.
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It's not just Liverpool fans though is it? His peers ranked him the second best player in the world, therefore they must also be biased.

Longevity is certainly an argument, there's no disputing that and if that is high up your criteria then you can't put VVD top. There was no criteria put forward however, so I would go for VVD, as his top level is better than the others.

ALL TIME PL XI

Alisson
Trent Gomez Van Dijk Robertson
Hendo Alonso
Salah Gerrard Mane
Bitey

agreed Toordude?