Former Liverpool player Steve Nicol has continued his path of criticizing the current squad by laying into Virgil van Dijk for no reason.
The media turns to Nicol whenever they’d like an opinion on Liverpool and he normally provides a negative one. He was full of rage when Divock Origi was handed that new deal last season and that form has continued.
Since the Premier League has been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Virgil van Dijk has been in the news a lot as football fans debate who has been the best central defender.
A lot of come up with van Dijk, who is an absolute colossus and has transformed Liverpool more than anyone else. His arrival from Southampton instantly transformed the defence, more than Alisson or Fabinho ever did.
Vincent Kompany has often been mentioned and he definitely deserves to be up there in the rankings, and even the Belgian has described Virg as the best.
But Nicol isn’t having a bar of it.
He doesn’t think van Dijk has been around long enough to be described in such glowing terms, despite being one of the best in the world right now.
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"Goal reported that he told ESPN: “I think it’s very difficult to turn around and say he’s the best centre-back ever in the Premier League history because the problem is right now he’s current and that’s what Kompany’s focusing on.“It’s a short space at the very top with Liverpool, two seasons, so I’m not quite ready to say he’s the best one ever.“He’s certainly up there in the argument but just a little early for me to be throwing that sort of accolade around.”"
That shouldn’t really be the sole focus of the argument. By those standards, somebody not quite as good as van Dijk can be classed as a better Premier League defender because they’ve made more appearances.
Does that mean Matthew Upson could be regarded as a player of higher quality than the Dutchman? Is Dejan Lovren superior? Give it a rest, for goodness sake.
For example, do we have to wait until van Dijk is 32-years-old and has got four more years of Premier League action under bis belt before we can call him the best ever, even if his standards have dropped slightly and he’s not the player he once was?
Come off it.