In case you are unaware, the ongoing football debate right now is whether Virgil van Dijk is the greatest defender in Premier League history.
This season, the Dutchman has been in imperious form, helping Liverpool establish dominance in both the Premier League and Champions League.
A leader of men who oozes class on and off the ball, Van Dijk will almost certainly go down as one of the finest defenders to have graced the game of football.
But who else is in the conversation to be labelled the Premier League’s ultimate pragmatic master?
Let’s have a look at NetBet’s picks…
Virgil van Dijk
It really is hard to pinpoint a weakness in Van Dijk’s game.
Defensively he excels and is rarely beaten 1v1, his passing range is befitting of a midfielder and in the air, few – if any – can match him.
What makes Van Dijk’s story all the more remarkable is the fact he has bounced back from an ACL injury in late 2020 as if nothing serious even happened.
His legendary status at Liverpool is already secured, regardless of how this season pans out, and when he does eventually leave Anfield, the Reds will simply not be the same force defensively.
John Terry
No conversation about the Premier League’s greatest defender can be had without mentioning all-time great Terry.
Arguably the finest captain the division has ever seen, the Englishman was the foundation of Chelsea’s success in the 2000s and 2010s, racking up 214 top-flight clean sheets.
A fierce competitor who locked up world-class strikers for fun, Terry combined old-school defending with a touch of modern quality to devastating effect.
He was also hugely effective in both boxes, netting 41 Premier League goals – a ridiculous return for a defender.
Rio Ferdinand
Ferdinand took the idea of ball-playing as a defender to a whole new level during his Manchester United days.
Blessed with skill, blistering pace and composure, he was well ahead of his time in terms of English centre-backs.
Of course, Ferdinand was a world-class defender too, but it was his qualities in possession and overall technical ability – which you typically associate with Spanish players – that really made him stand out.
To put it simply, Ferdinand would not have looked out of place in Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona side, that is how good he was.
Nemanja Vidic
If you mention Ferdinand, you also have to bring up his partner-in-crime at United, Vidic.
The two formed arguably the greatest defensive double act the Premier League has ever seen, a lethal combination of skill and power.
Vidic was your typical no-nonsense centre-back, a player who had strikers quivering in their boots before a game.
The Serbian colossus was so good under Sir Alex Ferguson’s rule that he won the Premier League Player of the Season award in both 2008-09 and 2010-11.
Ashley Cole
But it cannot just be all about the centre-backs and when it comes to the topic of great Premier League full-backs, Cole is always the first name to pop into the head.
Regarded by some as the finest left-back in football history, Cole was a standout performer at both Arsenal and Chelsea.
Right wingers rarely got the better of the English legend, especially after Jose Mourinho turned him into even more of a defensive monster at Stamford Bridge.
At Arsenal we saw all of Cole’s unbridled attacking quality, summing up what a complete player he was. To this day, no other Premier League full-back comes close to matching him.
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