Van Dijk is the second best player in the world and the most impactful defender of our generation.

Vidic n Rio Ferdinand definitely were rated as the best pairing for a while right? I vividly remember how one game I watched Vidic won every header into the Man U box it was unbelievable how dominate he was physically lol. Rio made up for his relative lack of pace so it was a perfect partnership. Fergie was really good at building those.

Some players dip very quickly later on in their careers... pretty sad end to Pique's really, still a legend though

Let’s put this way - if tomorrow you had to play a final, who’d you want in your team ? We all know the honest answer.

When you think about it, VVD - Ramos would be an incredible partnership. Very complimentary, different set of skills.

I agree with much that is being stated here, but the direct comparisons are really not valid in that they played under totally different formations, tactics etc. but I do agree that all named in this thread, outside of the references to Pique, belong in the discussion of best CB.

I think the better comparison of who Ramos should be compared to would be Pujol! And I think it may be a difficult decision to say who was better as it’s very evenly matched.

Valkyrja wrote:Let’s put this way - if tomorrow you had to play a final, who’d you want in your team ? We all know the honest answer.

I will choose Ramos every time even though I despise him

The GOAT central defender comes up with masterclass after masterclass

Dude sucks

Few good years is all he had

Ramos is clear by a mile

Yeah, this may be his worst individual performance of his career.

another masterclass from Le GOAT

lol how petty can you be for beating on a dead horse. Where were your comments when he was bossing it 3 years ago?

Valkyrja wrote:another masterclass from Le GOAT

You can bump this thread every time Liverpool loses and it still won't change the fact that prime Van Dijk was better than prime Ramos.

They're both defenders, but they're not similar at all. I wouldn't hesitate to pick prime VDV over Ramos for his sustainably superior ability to defend. I also recognize that Ramos is perhaps one of the most clutch goalscoring defenders in the history of the sport, or at least, during the time that I've been watching football. But that's not a very tangible quality, and I personally prefer Van Dijk's defensive reliability, regardless of what form he is in right now.

One can argue that Ramos had a longer prime, but like I've talked about before, VDV seemed to be playing at a really high level at both Celtic and Southampton, the media and fans just don't tend to care enough to notice what players do for less relevant clubs. I still can't get over how there was no hype around Son Heung Min when he was playing for Leverkusen. He may not have been an established, world beater, but his talent and potential were clear as day. Naturally, most fans don't watch clubs of that level, but you'd think the top clubs had scouts in the top 5 leagues who did.

What I’m saying is that we shouldn’t compare all-time greats with footnotes who had a 18-month purple patch.  

Imagine how petty I am that some dudes on the internet are hyping up a a 2 season wonder while downplaying one of the most decorated captains in sports’ history, who ‘in his prime’ won 4 Champions League trophies among others.

Some of these comments are laughable to say at least, for example this one:

"Where were you when he was bossing 3 years ago"

Same as now, LMAOing at LeGOAT shouts

Sergio Ramos was still bossing 3 years ago too

But PL tax is real. If its not in the EPL, no one will highly rate a player

Valkyrja wrote:Let’s put this way - if tomorrow you had to play a final, who’d you want in your team ? We all know the honest answer.

As a Liverpool fan? Van Dijk. As a Real Madrid fan? Probably Van Dijk. As a fan of other clubs with 10 players around this position, again probably Van Dijk. But the Van Dijk before Pickford sent the him out for 10 months. He has never been the same since. Also Van Dijk did not have the privilege of being scouted to play for a top team until he turned 28.

I would pick VD to start since hes at least less prone to brainfarts n red cards in any moment XD And then if we fall behind during the game, bring sub him off for Ramos in the hope for a clutch header goal XD

Van Dijk just doesn’t have the longevity that Ramos has. Also, different styles of defending, the aggressive/on the front foot style is always going to be prone to more mistakes, but those defenders also win turnovers in advantageous parts of the field, which is especially useful in a counter attack

funny because Van Dijk at his best was better with the aggressive/on foot defending... dude never missed a beat

FennecFox7 wrote:Van Dijk just doesn’t have the longevity that Ramos has. Also, different styles of defending, the aggressive/on the front foot style is always going to be prone to more mistakes, but those defenders also win turnovers in advantageous parts of the field, which is especially useful in a counter attack  

This argument just doesn't work for two sides of the story. We could discount 9 years of early Suarez purely based on this until he joined Barcelona. It's best we do not compare. It's like comparing Friends to How I met your mother.

I do not even understand why Madrid who have made Liverpool their bitch still be so insecure.

Nishankly wrote:

Valkyrja wrote:Let’s put this way - if tomorrow you had to play a final, who’d you want in your team ? We all know the honest answer.  

As a Liverpool fan? Van Dijk. As a Real Madrid fan? Probably Van Dijk. As a fan of other clubs with 10 players around this position, again probably Van Dijk. But the Van Dijk before Pickford sent the him out for 10 months. He has never been the same since. Also Van Dijk did not have the privilege of being scouted to play for a top team until he turned 28.

the Van Dijk that lost the final against Ramos or the van Dijk that won the final against Lads it's Tottenham ?

has he played in other finals ?

Why are you acting like they didn't beat Bayern and Barca on their way to the 2019 CL title? Messi was putting on all timer CL campaign and Bayern went to win it the next year.

Also using a one game result to make a narrative is lame especially when it's one where Karius made blunder after blunder, and created 3 goals on his own rather than any specific poor defending.

Nishankly wrote:

FennecFox7 wrote:Van Dijk just doesn’t have the longevity that Ramos has. Also, different styles of defending, the aggressive/on the front foot style is always going to be prone to more mistakes, but those defenders also win turnovers in advantageous parts of the field, which is especially useful in a counter attack  

This argument just doesn't work for two sides of the story. We could discount 9 years of early Suarez purely based on this until he joined Barcelona. It's best we do not compare. It's like comparing Friends to How I met your mother.

I do not even understand why Madrid who have made Liverpool their bitch still be so insecure.

Well van dijk has never been an aggressive defender. His style reminds me much more of Varane for example. That’s also why he doesn’t get dribbled past. Nothing negative. It’s his style

Insecure for what? Compare our achievements the past 10 years. It isn’t even close lol.

The whole Ramos/VDV comparison came from Valk btw (I think) and I don't think it's a conversation that is widely taking place (unlike the Saka/Vini comparison which is usually a talking point on Arsenal Twitter).

It's a very isolated comparison lol.