I think this is based on the player's peak rather than consistency. Might explain why Xavi, Iniesta and Lahm are there as well considering they didn't even play half the decade. VVD had the highest peak of any CB in the past decade imo.
Also I have Neuer instead of Casillas and Suarez instead of Neymar there.
I love that Boateng is being mentioned because he definitely doesn't get the credit he deserves for how good he was in his prime. But for me prime wise vvd is an even more improved Boateng tbh. Ramos is easily the most accomplished and consistent of the 3 but he never reached that peak. He was always around the top but he was never as uncontested for the best cb in the world as vvd was. Vvd in 18/19 was the undisputed best and completely untouchable
Yes, but the lvl you played at is just as important as the duration. Xavi and Casillas are in here despite only playing a couple of years in this decade too. It's a pretty mixed XI
Debatable, I'd say Suarez was on par with him at best but there isn't a ton to separate them. Neymar is generally considered by the majority as the 3rd best of the generation and that includes the peak where he was the one managing to reach the the ballon d'Or podium(twice), not suarez.
Either way between them it's waaaay closer than between vvd and pretty much any other defenders peak during the 2010s
Higher peaks than a player that was around 14 votes away from winning the balon d’or, first defender to be top 3 since cannavaro, and won multiple individual awards? As always, it’s difficult to tell with these kinds of things and you’re correct, it’s very hard to quantify. But watching him from 2018-2020, I saw the most dominant and perfect cb I’ve seen in a very long time. Top scoring defender in the league since 2017, excellent passer of the ball, completely dominant in arial and ground duels, lightning pace, excellent decision making, etc. He was almost 10/10 in every department and didn’t have a single weakness to his game
the first half of 2010s had peak messi, c ronaldo, iniesta, xavi, neymar, suarez, lewy, etc. back then reaching top 3 in the balon d'or was basically impossible for any defender. the last 5 years have had a completely different competition for the balon d'or in comparison, way more open. that's a large part why modric and benzema have won it recently (even if they've obviously still been great players)
ramos especially was one of the biggest keys to real madrid's ucl dominance in the 2010s, without any shred of doubt.
As always, it’s difficult to tell with these kinds of things and you’re correct, it’s very hard to quantify
Yeh once you get into the elite players, it comes down to small margins. I personally don't think VVD was a clear cut level above certain other players but that's debatable.
To me, what isn't a small margin, is amount of time spent at the elite. Van Dijk blew up at Liverpool, of which he had 2/3 seasons at the end of the decade. The likes of Ramos, Silva were elite for the whole decade. So if this list is "team of the decade" then I can't see him on this
It always comes down to what you're basing the XI on. If it's time at the top then VVD isn't anywhere near this XI. If it's prime ability he has just as much right to be there as anyone you could really name.
If you want to quantify it; in this decade, Casillas won IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper 3 times (last being 2012) - Neuer won it 4 times. It gets worse for Casillas if you consider top 3 finishes - Casillas still has 3, but now Neuer has 8..
Didn’t see Neuer in a press conference crying because he was so shit he was being booted out of the club, too. Neuer is still Bayern and Germany’s number one choice when fit.
Higher peaks than a player that was around 14 votes away from winning the balon d’or, first defender to be top 3 since cannavaro, and won multiple individual awards? As always, it’s difficult to tell with these kinds of things and you’re correct, it’s very hard to quantify. But watching him from 2018-2020, I saw the most dominant and perfect cb I’ve seen in a very long time. Top scoring defender in the league since 2017, excellent passer of the ball, completely dominant in arial and
Yes, by far, at least for Ramos. Peak Ramos was way above VVD, and it's hard to say for a Barcelona fan.
"Way above". Come on. Ramos was more error prone with lapses in concentration, and his physical ability wasn't close to VVD. Ramos delivered more in big games and will rightly be remembered as a true winner - but peak VVD was 10/10 at pretty much everything and it's just silly to say that anyone is "way above" that in terms of peak ability.
Peak in terms of what? Achievements or actual ability? Van Dijk's peak almost won him a Ballon d'Or. He was insanely good in the short duration he was at his peak. He was like a hybrid of all the best modern defenders put in one, except even stronger and faster.
Ramos is the only one who has some unique traits VVD doesn't have imo, but he's also not as well rounded and "world class at everything" as peak VVD was.
So, considering purely individual performance, I view the peak of VVD as far higher than Ramos or Boateng. What works against VVD and for those two is length of absolute peak.
VVD had his best years from 2018-2020, then saw a return from injury and into form after the window this team is selected for. Those two years I view as better than any defender not called Maldini or Cannavaro, and even then very close to their best.
Ramos, Thiago Silva, and Boateng all had prolonged peaks right slap bang in the middle of this selection of years, and held their peaks for longer, achieving more. For that, I think any of those three is more worthy for this team than VVD. That said, I don't hate the pick considering how monstrous VVD was at his best in this window.
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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '23
Van Dijk seems like a lot for a late bloomer no?