Coming into his second season at Liverpool, Virgil van Dijk is looking poised to step into the captain role held currently by Jordan Henderson.
Van Dijk has been sublime since he arrived at Anfield in January of last year for £75 million. The fee was a record for a defender, and was one that was criticized by many. But he has proved his worth in the middle of our defense.
It was a position that we needed to spend on badly, with almost no depth, and not a world class center back to hold down the fort. When he arrived, during the second half of the campaign he made our defenses one of the best in the Premier League. Not to mention he helped guide us to a Champions League Final in Kiev.
Since he arrived, many have praised his leadership qualities and how he can control an entire team. You see it when he is playing, how much he talks. He probably talks more than anyone in our squad and it really is useful information he is delivering to our keeper, other defenders, and the players in front of him. Van Dijk is like the general who can see everything play out in front of him which is why he can offer so much to help.
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Historically, many center backs make great captains. They are the strong, tough lads who are willing to stand up for their teammates and lead a team to glory. That is not saying any other position is incapable, but simply suggesting center backs are better equipped. John Terry, Sergio Ramos and Vincent Kompany all made extremely great captains, and van Dijk is already starting to prove that he can be one.
In fact, before he left Southampton, van Dijk was named the captain. He’s also skippered for the Netherlands on international duty. So it is clear that he is a well established leader on other fronts as well. To make it clear, Jordan Henderson is a great captain. He has been the skipper for a couple years now and has played with a passion and fire all Liverpool fans can admire.
However, with the midfield growing stronger, and our depth becoming even deeper, Henderson might not see every game. Which makes it imminent that Liverpool start grooming van Dijk to be the new skipper. It might not be an immediate change, just something to look forward to.
Another one of van Dijk’s superb qualities is how he can calm the team down. A situation Liverpool would have panicked under before, the Dutchman can take care of and make it look fairly easy as well. He is such a composed player, other players look up to him for direction and guidance. We have already seen this with players like Dejan Lovren who looks much more calm, cool, and collected playing alongside van Dijk rather than Joel Matip or Ragnar Klavan.
Not to mention that he is an absolute force in the middle and can win about every single header you put near him. He can even get up the pitch on corners and set pieces to be a real aerial threat to any opposition.
Van Dijk is the quintessential player that will lift Liverpool’s trophies in the coming years. He is the strong force out of the back we can rely on in hard times, and the one we can all look up to in the good times. But it will be up to Jurgen Klopp to make this happen.