---
title: "Liverpool: Jason Cundy suggests John Terry may beat Virgil van Dijk to ‘best defender’ tag"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/liverpool-jason-cundy-suggests-john-terry-may-beat-virgil-van-dijk-to-best-defender-tag/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Stephan Georgiou"
section: "Features"
published: "2020-01-15T16:10:56Z"
modified: "2020-01-15T16:10:56Z"
---

# Liverpool: Jason Cundy suggests John Terry may beat Virgil van Dijk to ‘best defender’ tag

**Former Premier League footballer Jason Cundy has joined in the debate over whether Virgil van Dijk is the best defender in English top-flight history.**

The former Chelsea man has argued that [five-time Premier League winner](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/john-terry/erfolge/spieler/3160) John Terry should be considered as a better centre-back due to the time at which the Blues captain led his side to league glory in his career.

Terry won back-to-back Premier League titles at Stamford Bridge in 2005 and 2006, and Cundy told [TalkSPORT](https://twitter.com/talkSPORT/status/1217092253505720329) that his age should be an important factor when comparing his credentials to Van Dijk’s, with the Liverpool centre-back [all-but set](https://www.skysports.com/premier-league-table) to pick up his first league trophy at 28 years of age.

He said: “He joined Liverpool at 26, he’s now 28. John Terry was captaining Chelsea, lifting Premier League titles at 23, 24. This was a player that was doing it at the very, very top much younger. I think that has to come into it, doesn’t it?”

\[freshpress-poll id=”271354″\]

As admirable as Terry’s achievements are, it is surely a bit unfair for Cundy to dismiss Van Dijk’s ability on the account of Terry’s age alone – football is a team game, after all. That would mean no defender could claim to be the best unless they were no older than 24, which sounds like a pretty farcical argument on the face of it. It would be like suggesting [Gael Clichy](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/gael-clichy/erfolge/spieler/7449) is unmatched in the left-back position because he won the Premier League when he was 18.

Cundy should have perhaps highlighted the global recognition Terry received as a player, with the Chelsea man coming 10th in the [2005 Ballon d’Or](https://talksport.com/football/295081/ballon-dor-winners-2000-2019-ronaldo-messi-van-dijk/), and compared Van Dijk on a more like-for-like basis, following the Dutchman’s [runner-up placing](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50634076) in December.

Of course, Van Dijk is yet to win a fifth of Terry’s Premier League crowns, so there is certainly room for a debate, here – but bringing age into it is perhaps a slightly irrelevant avenue to go down.

***Liverpool fans, would you rather have Van Dijk than Terry in his prime? Let us know what you think below!***