The on topic thread 2.0

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Thistle

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VVD incredibly stiff. Pivotal in Liverpool winning the CL and losing only one league game this year. Plus he helped Holland get to the Nation's League final.

If he can't win with the year he's had then what hope do any defenders have of being recognised as player of the year.
 
VVD incredibly stiff. Pivotal in Liverpool winning the CL and losing only one league game this year. Plus he helped Holland get to the Nation's League final.

If he can't win with the year he's had then what hope do any defenders have of being recognised as player of the year.
If he was playing for Barcelona or Real Madrid he would have won, simple as that
 
VVD incredibly stiff. Pivotal in Liverpool winning the CL and losing only one league game this year. Plus he helped Holland get to the Nation's League final.

If he can't win with the year he's had then what hope do any defenders have of being recognised as player of the year.
When you up against someone like Messi I don't think that's a bad thing.

What he did this year is seen as fairly normal nowadays but it was extraordinary.
 

ADL9798

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While I think Van Dijk deserved it, it was always going to be a close run thing between he and Messi. Both outstanding and I tend to agree with moomba that Messi has redefined the benchmark for ‘normal’.

4 in the top 7, 6 in the top 20. Proud night for the club. Well earned acknowledgement for a phenomenal year.
 
VVD incredibly stiff. Pivotal in Liverpool winning the CL and losing only one league game this year. Plus he helped Holland get to the Nation's League final.

If he can't win with the year he's had then what hope do any defenders have of being recognised as player of the year.

The lack of cleansheets in the backend of this year probs cost him I reckon.
 
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While I think Van Dijk deserved it, it was always going to be a close run thing between he and Messi. Both outstanding and I tend to agree with moomba that Messi has redefined the benchmark for ‘normal’.

4 in the top 7, 6 in the top 20. Proud night for the club. Well earned acknowledgement for a phenomenal year.

This was the takeaway from me. Crazy to think how far we've come in just a few years under Klopp. Four players in the top seven I presume would have only been achieved by the great Barcelona/Madrid sides of this century.
 
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While I think Van Dijk deserved it, it was always going to be a close run thing between he and Messi. Both outstanding and I tend to agree with moomba that Messi has redefined the benchmark for ‘normal’.

4 in the top 7, 6 in the top 20. Proud night for the club. Well earned acknowledgement for a phenomenal year.
Don't mean to be bias but of course Vidic in 2009 who had a better season stats wise than VVD somehow only managed 16th spot yet VVD gets 2nd.
Don't get it twisted i take nothing from VVD i think he had an outstanding year and is easily the best defender in the world and it's not even close i'm just upset with the inconsistency of how the awards are dealt.
 
Don't mean to be bias but of course Vidic in 2009 who had a better season stats wise than VVD somehow only managed 16th spot yet VVD gets 2nd.
Don't get it twisted i take nothing from VVD i think he had an outstanding year and is easily the best defender in the world and it's not even close i'm just upset with the inconsistency of how the awards are dealt.
My only obvious disagreement would be as good as Vidic was (and he was a beast) he was Torres' bunny.

VVD doesn't have any striker that he doesn't match up on well or consistently beats him
 
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My only obvious disagreement would be as good as Vidic was (and he was a beast) he was Torres' bunny.

VVD doesn't have any striker that he doesn't match up on well or consistently beats him

Well I think Torres could do the same to VVD imo
He was that talented just unbelievable.
I’m still surprised that Bernardo Silva and Mahrez ranked higher than De Bruyne.


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Well I think Torres could do the same to VVD imo
He was that talented just unbelievable.
I’m still surprised that Bernardo Silva and Mahrez ranked higher than De Bruyne.


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Wasn't KdB injured?
 

Kompany

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Scored easily most goals. Messi and Ronaldo are voted on due to reputation

Reputation? Messi scored 51 goals in 50 games last season. He is still an absolutely phenomenal player. Still the best player in the world, although VVD would've deserved it as well for his season. Comparing the two is practically impossible, but people shouldn't forget that VVD plays in a better team than Messi, who is currently carrying a poorly managed Barcelona almost single-handedly.
 
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My only obvious disagreement would be as good as Vidic was (and he was a beast) he was Torres' bunny.

This is one of the great footballing myths of our era.

Vidic had one really, really shocking game where Torres made him lose his head and he got sent off. It was very high profile and the idea of Torres always having him in his pocket seems to have grown from there.

Truth is that Torres (during that period) was just a beast and generally played very well every time he came up against United. After Vidic was interviewed on the matter and called it a myth, a bunch of United fans went back and analysed Torres' performances in Liverpool V United games and found that they actually barely even lined up directly against each other. Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans were found to be more culpable with the goals and chances United conceded to Torres.

FWIW Vidic rates Drogba as his toughest opponent.
 
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the best part is seeing who voted for who. like togo voting lloris 3rd and messi 4th.

They tend to keep the individual votes quiet because it's a bit of joke really. Someone tell me why Daniel Garb gets a vote in the most prestigious award for the best player on the planet. But it gets worse.

Last year Merv-Ann Thompson from that famous footballing nation, St Kitts, had a top five of Neymar, Sergio Ramos, Luis Suarez, Alisson, Aguero.

Bishkek Taras Hlypenko of Kyrgyzstan voted for Thibaut Courtois as best player.

Albert Stanislas Koumbobako from the Central African Republic voted for Karim Benzema.

The country of Comoros (yes, it exists) voted Mbappe, Modric, Ronaldo, Hazard, Salah but it turned out that the named journalist, Abdou Boina, does not exist.

Also last year, the journalist for Trinidad and Tobago, Lasana Liburd, voted Messi, Modric, Ronaldo, Salah, Griezmann but it was recorded as Griezmann, Salah, Ronaldo, Modric, Messi.
 

ADL9798

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Don't mean to be bias but of course Vidic in 2009 who had a better season stats wise than VVD somehow only managed 16th spot yet VVD gets 2nd.
Don't get it twisted i take nothing from VVD i think he had an outstanding year and is easily the best defender in the world and it's not even close i'm just upset with the inconsistency of how the awards are dealt.

Depends on which defensive statistics you’re looking at. Some are useful, but most indicators I hear people quote when assessing defenders are opportunity based.

Without context, absolute values like the total number of tackles a centre back has made don’t tell you anything about his individual quality, other than that he was really busy. Ditto for goalkeepers and total number of saves. Rates are more useful.

Vidic was a phenomenal defender. What Van Dijk has done over the last 2 years is as good as any individual season Vidic put up. Some would argue better. Longevity is the challenge for Van Dijk now if he wants to enter those all time great lists.
 
Reputation? Messi scored 51 goals in 50 games last season. He is still an absolutely phenomenal player. Still the best player in the world, although VVD would've deserved it as well for his season. Comparing the two is practically impossible, but people shouldn't forget that VVD plays in a better team than Messi, who is currently carrying a poorly managed Barcelona almost single-handedly.

Griezmann was third in the ballon d'or last year, Suarez, Rakitic, De Jong, Pique, ter Stegen, Umtiti, Vidal, Busquets & Alba are all super players too.

My god I have never seen a bunch of players regress so much within a a couple of weeks. Anyone would think the Barcelona squad is full if Sunday league players and Messithe way people have talked this week.

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Kompany

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Griezmann was third in the ballon d'or last year, Suarez, Rakitic, De Jong, Pique, ter Stegen, Umtiti, Vidal, Busquets & Alba are all super players too.

My god I have never seen a bunch of players regress so much within a a couple of weeks. Anyone would think the Barcelona squad is full if Sunday league players and Messithe way people have talked this week.

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Griezmann hasn't settled in at all (doing a lot of running on the left but doesn't get the ball enough), Rakitic has been on the bench for most of the season and was very poor on the weekend in a rare start, Pique is nowhere near who he once was, Umtiti has struggled with an injury and has barely played, Vidal is on the bench most of the time and wants to leave if he doesn't start regularly and Alba has been out injured for some time now. De Jong is doing well (he has good and bad games) but is new to the team - he will take some time to find cohesion with his teammates and will end up playing in Busquets' position, who is also feeling his age. Dembele is out injured again and can't be relied upon for several reasons. Suarez has had his moments and ter Stegen has been superb at times. This weekend Barcelona won 0-1 away to Atleti, after several great saves from ter Stegen and a moment of brilliance from Messi. Typical.

Barcelona has been relatively poor or average for the whole season already. Their away form has been the poorest in 2 decades and yes, they're hard to watch currently if you take into account how many talented players are out there, but it looks like they don't have a system and heavily rely on scoring from set pieces, which is why many want Valverde to get the sack rather than let him finish his contract at the end of the season.
 
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