16 Oct 2026 10:23:32
Just seen a video of Semenyo hitting a speed of 35.74km/ph. The second fastest of the season. Video also shows Virgil staying with him, tackling and then coming away with the ball. The man has lost some pace but this just shows how fast the man actually was in his peak.
His slowing down has only brought him back to the quickest of the slow coaches in this league. Can still do another 3 or 4 years in this league if he's looked after. Still the best LCB in the league.
16 Oct 2026 11:10:16
Whilst I don't think he is close to the imperious, one-man back four that he was at his peak, I think it's notable that having a serious, high quality centre half partner alongside him this season and at least one full back who is defensively oriented has helped. He looks again like a high quality Premier League centre half again.
The clip you're referring to shows him pretty much matching one of the fastest wingers in the league stride for stride despite being 9 years older. And in the same match - prior to the red card - he was snuffing out Haaland and winning pretty much every aerial contest.
If the Jacquet/ van Dijk partnership works well all season, I could see some sense in a one year extension.
So many clowns in those pointless "GOAT" debates try to rank van Dijk below the likes of Vidic, Kompany, Ferdinand, Terry, etc because they all won more league titles. It's a kind of irrelevant metric when you're talking about individual players. Terry and Vidic were good old fashioned "stoppers", the type who fly into sliding tackles and last ditch blocks.
Ferdinand was hugely over-rated, constantly exposed when up against the best strikers and was fortunate to play in very good Manchester United teams where the back four didn't often come under huge pressure. Kompany didn't belong in this conversation in the first place and certainly doesn't now, as he can't even claim the trophy county anymore. van Dijk has been at a different level to all of these players.
16 Oct 2026 11:26:13
It's when people put him behind Vidic and Kompany that I have to laugh. Terry and to a lesser extent Ferdinand were in fairness top class. For me Rio or Vidic weren't even Utd's best CB of the Prem era, Stam was.
16 Oct 2026 12:02:39
He's the best around and deserves a new deal.
And after he finishes he will be the GOAT. You will be hard pushed to ever see anything like him again in our lifetimes unless he's cloned in a lab. Availability, aerial prowess at both ends, speed, power, passing range and technical skills and a winning mentality. A genuine freak of nature in the sport.
The only criticism you could ever lay at his door is that he is so much better than everyone else he can be caught off-guard on extremely rare occasions.
16 Oct 2026 12:30:37
I have been saying this for ages, but I will say it again. His 2018-pre Covid run is the most dominant I have ever seen in my life, and its not even close. I know its not talked about among the other achievements but we conceded only 22 goals in 2018-19 season, which is insane given our play style. And a large part of it was down to VVD.
His aura at his peak was unmatched. The Lautaro Martinez stopped run is something I will never forget. I don't usually like GOAT comparison because of the difference of play styles in different eras, but he is undoubtedly the best centre back of the last 25 years, by a mile. To add to that he has a goal tally many midfielders would be proud to have.
16 Oct 2026 12:46:15
Well said Koparmy. Fantastic player. A shoe in on the best eleven.
16 Oct 2026 12:57:26
VVD was step for step with Leroy Sane (7 years ago) at Anfield in the 0-0 draw where Mahrez missed a pen.
And with Adama Traore 5 years ago away at Wolves.
For a guy that big and tall, he was an absolute speed demon in his prime, imo.
{Ed025's Note - for me he is not as quick as you all think Oli, but his reading of the game and positional sense is exceptional which makes him hard to beat even up against speedy forwards mate..
16 Oct 2026 13:22:26
All the best cbs ed25 have that ability don't they? Read the game superbly. I remember paul mcgrath playing for ireland + villafor years with bad knees ( couldn't train much), shoulder problems, also had an alcohol problem and was still the best player on field game in game out due to his reading of the game.
{Ed025's Note - yeah Digger he was a great player, again not blessed with great speed but had a great footballing brain, for me speed is overrated and players like Molby proved that mate, what a player he was..
16 Oct 2026 13:59:57
Remember that one season where VVD was clocked as the fastest on a run, for the entire season?
For me, VVD has been the best ever since the beginning of the EPL. And of course, "there can be no doubt about that". ?
(Okay, Jaap Stam comes close; what a gruesome monster).
16 Oct 2026 14:11:36
VVD and Becker are the 2 players who moved the needle for us. We weren't winning anything until those 2 signed.
16 Oct 2026 14:23:27
Semenyo also needs to be that quick so he can chase his own first touch.
16 Oct 2026 15:05:09
Ron, I believe Fabinho was also the missing piece of the puzzle. Both he and Allison joined us in the 2018 window and we started playing our best after that.
16 Oct 2026 18:16:15
Good point Drac.
For me, our midfield wasn't terrible before Fabinho joined but our keeper and our central defence were truly terrible before Becker and Van Dijk. Just my view but Fabinho was certainly influential.