Best players of 18/19 season

There was a great Wall Street Journal article about this two days ago (that he makes the WSJ as a stand alone feature is pretty special!).

It can take years to build an elite Premier League defense. Liverpool found a shortcut: his name is Virgil van Dijk. https://t.co/CCGr8QYUdA via @WSJ

— chris daiber (@chrisdaiber) April 2, 2019

Give a shout if you can't read. It's a very good article.

In this it is mentioned certain players seem to do better in high pressure situations (like him) while others do not. According to the same study and paper, Cristiano Ronaldo is insensitive to whatever type of game it is, while Neymar his value (and decision making) reduces drastically if the level of opponent increases (google for finding the paper).

As I said in the other thread, I think the key for understanding is that he combines both decent defending (as acknowledged by Neville, who has been complaining about poor defending and being error prone by top defenders for years) and decent skills with the ball, as shown by a few big goals and assists in big matches (assist vs PSG, Bayern).

For interest, here one of his first ever interviews in 2011 for a regional paper:
https://www.dvhn.nl/sport/Virgil-van-Dijk-in-2011-FC-Barcelona-is-het-uiteindelijke-doel-22778144.html?harvest_referrer=https://www.google.com/

In it he says: "I am a central defender but if needed I can also do fine as a striker." He also says it's his goal to end up at Barcelona and thinks he can achieve it, and he likes Pique his style very much.

edit: is it fair to say Sterling was already operating at a similar level past season?

 

Also here you have more some details of the same study for other players: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/...al-football-players-perform-crunch-games.html

Strange because while Messi has probably the same standards of Neymar (Same-Same-Lower), his name is not used as example and in this note they also propose a justification for it ("but that might be because he's capable of bringing difficult actions to a succesful end"), so is Neymar not capable too?

That's how the negative marketing works. Could be very well Messi instead of Neymar there.. but of course, of course.

 

Excellent video published yesterday, with through balls, over-the-head rainbow clearances etcetera.



Yesterday's game vs Brighton though confirmed for me that an in form Hazard at an in form club is fundamentally the best footballer of the league, with an influence that few attackers can match.

 

Sterling did reached this season's level, but only in parts of last season, so this season has definitely been better because he's been more consistent.

Last season, Sane was more impressive.

I don't quite agree that Salah was the clear #1. I think KDB was right up there. I can buy either one as #1 as long as it is recognized that it was very close between the two.

 

Just curious how highly do you rate KDB 17/18?
For me no matter if he does or doesnt replicate last seasons form it is the best ever individual campaign by a player who did not win the PFA

Salah for me is a very athletically gifted player with no standout technical abillities on the ball
This season hes been very hard to watch even though outside of goals he seems to of had the same influence as last season

But credit where its due and 32 goals is 32 goals which is more than any player has ever scored in a PL season(38 game format)
With the benefit of hindsight I think a PFA award was justified recognition for him achieving something no one else did previously

 

RvP in that two year run of form 2011 and 2012 was immense
One of the top 3 strikers in europe alongside falcao and ibrahimovic

i dont think united wouldve won that
Pl title without him( it was a master stroke signing by SAF no doubt)
Still think though im sticking with KDB who i think was THE best player in his position last season(in europe)
In any case bale and RVP won the PFA if im not mistakem(and as puck has already shown some aspects of bales game in 12/13 were overblown-he was not a winger as CR 06/07,pires ,ginola etc but more of a WF)

All i said was KDB 17/18 was the best season by a non PFA winner
Other contenders could be gerrard 08/09,scholes 02/03,toure 13/14,aguero( take your pick),henry 05/06 amongst others

 

Yes I think RvP in 2012-13 falls in the same bracket as a Beckham/Yorke in 1999 (it's shocking how few goals and assists Ginola had that season), KDB in 2017-18 and a few others (a number of players were as good/influential as Gerrard in 2005-06).

There are Manchester United writers and fans who think Moyes completely mishandled the situation (better discussion here). In a nutshell: Moyes got rid of the personalized training scheme, overworked him, and made immediately Rooney the main man again. That in a context where RVP was heartbroken when Ferguson suddenly retired after one year. So that's a pity but on a per 90 minutes base he's still the most productive EPL player of his era (despite playing in many seasons not as a striker), many goals of the months, player of the month etc.

One problem of the whole PFA thing is perhaps that the goalscorers are overvalued next to the facilitators (unless you're a designated golden boy as Rooney but even he only won all but one of his accolades when he was a striker). Also for this a 'career award' would be fine, although some would say those things already exist (the football hall of fame etc.).

 

I'd agree that it's one of the best. I'm not sure if it THE best. Others have already named the other non-winners who were also very good.

I'd throw Fabregas 09-10 into the mix as well.

 

Hazard in the league this season:

Most goal contributions (28)
Most assists (12)
Most dribbles (109)
2nd most key passes created (90)
Most MOTMs (13)
Most points won (23)

He's top one. Give him the POTY.
https://t.co/bF6fH8SXrR

— Mod (@CFCMod_) April 8, 2019

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/47867364

Comments below that video

 

Yes, I also 'agree' with many of the commentary/observations here:

 

https://i.redd.it/1kbejpmb9m921.png
As far as the "talent" is concerned there is really no one remotely close
Completely agree with the sentiment that the league would be much poorer without him

For me the drop off in form during 15/16 was so bad i cant bring myself to put him in the top 3 ever bracket of PL players
Hazard has though arguably 4-5 world class PL seasons and not many can claim the same
Strong record against big premier league teams with great goals against arsenal,liverpool,united

Poor CL record shouldnt have any bearing on his PL rank
His CL record anyways wasnt worse than zola,cantona,pires,suarez,aguero,ginola etc and many many others people dont mind giving credit too

 

Interesting. Can you show that of Talksport? And also the discussion on previous winners? Searched for the latter but cannot find.

 

De Ligt, De Jong, Van de Beek, Tadic, Ziyech. Those five are the most important for me.

L'Equipe had yesterday Daley Blind as the best player, Gazzetta and La Stampa Ziyech and Van de Beek. France Football had De Ligt and Van de Beek.

De Jong didn't seem fully fit, but for me he's candidate for World XI material this season. He is even outstanding and flawless as a center back (against Real Madrid he made a horrible mistake after he got cramp in his legs and was blocked in his motion).

This is however the same team that lost 3-0 to PSV and 6-2 to Feyenoord. It's still exceptional work given the long (three qualifying rounds, yellow cards carry over) and tough route and the massive limitations (the closest and most recent comparisons are PSV in 2005 and Villarreal in 2006; for ex. Monaco in 2017 didn't reach the semis and had way more money).

Someone translated (journalist living in Monaco, he's very good) comments by Gazzetta dello Sport in their opening four paragraphs (Luigi Garlando).

"It is all written on the board at the Cruijff Court, close to his birthplace, Akkerstraat 32 in Amsterdam: the rules for children who want to learn to play football. Rule 1: 'Football is a team sport. If you want to do something well, you have to play together. " Rule 9: "Technique is the basis of everything." Rule 14: "The creativity. It is the beauty of the sport. " The Ajax of Ten Hag meets all these rules. The spiritual grandchildren of Cruijff have overrun Juventus, not only with the result but especially with a performance and has more than earned the semi-finals. " (...) 'It is not true that you only have to cross the finish line first, it is not true that if you want to enjoy you have to go to the circus, it is not true that beautiful football leads to nowhere. A style with which you now recognize Ajax and not Juve, gives every team self-confidence, also very young, that will pay off at a given moment. Allegri has done far too little in this area. It is not that the Eredivisie is more challenging than the Serie A, but Ajax has worked extremely hard on its own to surpass environment and excel at this level. And it succeeded. Buying the best player in the world leads to nothing if he ultimately only scores goals. Only the game can make a team better. After the break, Juve was imploded under the enthusiasm of an opponent, who played fresh and beautiful and actually forgot to put the game in the slot. It is the only mistake of the boys who may be forgiven after the good outcome. Juve must learn to enjoy again. "

This is a good article about how they got there and even made the club way more sustainable:
https://www.eurosport.fr/football/l...-revolution-de-velours_sto7215734/story.shtml

Situation in 2010 (still: only six league titles the last 20 years which is below par):
http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2010/11/why-ajax-are-no-longer-dutch-masters.html

 

I would have Blind over de Ligt. They are a bit like Puyol with young Piqué. Blind is the one who sweeps up about everything. He was amazing in saturday's match as well.