Rio Ferdinand has fired back at Jamie Carragher's claim that Virgil van Dijk is a 'far better' defender than Nemanja Vidic.
Taking to Twitter on Monday morning, former Liverpool man Carragher defended Van Dijk after Liverpool's draw with Arsenal on Sunday afternoon. Jurgen Klopp’s side came from 2-0 down to earn a point at Anfield.
Talking about Van Dijk, Carragher claimed that Dutchman Van Dijk is the 'most impactful' defender in Premier League history. He also referenced the fact that former Manchester United man Vidic used to struggle against Fernando Torres.
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"VVD is far better than Vidic, who was a top CB, but have you forgot his performances against Torres? Rio & JT had poor seasons in their career like all players, VVD is having one now. No CB in the PL era has ever had VVD’s impact on a team," Carragher wrote on Twitter.
However, reacting to the claims, on his Vibe with Five show, Ferdinand hit back at Carragher for what he said about Van Dijk, and believes it is a 'myth' that his former team-mate always struggled when up against Torres.
“I see Jamie Carragher tweeted something about Van Dijk being better than Vidic,” he said. “I think Torres scored three goals in 15 games against Vidic.
“It's a bit of a myth, he had a couple of dodgy moments in those games and got sent off a couple of times and that's been amplified into saying he got tortured every time he played against Torres which wasn't the case.
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“[Marcus] Rashford's got six goals in 13 games against Liverpool, does that mean he's tortured Van Dijk?”
Before Ferdinand added: “Liverpool's defending, I don't know what I'm seeing at the moment. I can't get my head around it.
“Van Dijk has been the best defender in the world arguably for the last couple of years. The way you get yourself out of ruts like that is to just get back to basics.”
He added: "I don’t know why Vidic’s name was thrown in there. People are hammering Virgil van Dijk about his performances this season, he’s had a bit of an off season – which he has, and I think he’d admit that."
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