Qwiss! wrote:
van Dijk is a better defender than Rio by a long way. Ferdinand was better on the ball. If I was picking between them it'd be no contest, VVD every time. Just look at how much better the likes of Matip looks alongside van Dijk, its night and day compared to his form before VVD joined Liverpool.
I think this is too simplistic. Lovren is still terrible, for example, why can't van Dijk work his magic there?
I would suggest Matip is a player with quality, approaching his best years and playing better after a time of adaption to a new team and league. Also helped by the addition of Fabinho ahead of him, Alisson behind him, and van Dijk alongside him. Three of the best players in their positions in the world.
I really rate can Dijk, but he's not some freak that hasn't been seen before. In my opinion, he plays at a time when football is going through a significant dip in terms of the number of world class players, and stands out because of that. I do think he has issues with his concentration with runners behind him, but more so, with crosses into the box--I think he switches off more frequently than the top defenders many hail him as being better than. In a team not quite so dominant as Liverpool have been, that weakness would count way more often. He's also mostly passive in his defending (Matip being very aggressive is also part of why they both play better as a result of a balanced partnership), and whilst I agree with Flo that top defenders dive in very rarely, van Dijk is guilty of backing off or a lack of urgency in his blocking/tackling, and generally in his front-foot defending, more often than a world class defender should (he has other strengths that ensure he belongs in that bracket). This is more noticeable when he plays/played for Netherlands/Southampton.
I also think, for what it's worth, van Dijk is much better on the ball than was Rio Ferdinand--who was really nothing special at all in that respect and it always puzzled me why he was thought of as so.
