Nobody can get the better of Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk.
At least, that’s what former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol has told ESPN.
There’s been a debate sparked over the weekend about how good Virgil van Dijk actually is, and whether he’d have been able to keep some of the Premier League’s greatest forwards quiet.
Michael Ballack has claimed that the Dutchman would struggle against players like Didier Drogba. The German said that he’s not that good, simply lucky, to have avoided facing off against people like Drogba, or Alan Shearer, or Diego Costa.
With one horrible generalisation, he’s called an entire era of top flight strikers not very good. That’s not nice.
He’s forgetting that van Dijk has regularly kept Sergio Aguero quiet, or Harry Kane, or Jamie Vardy and has tussled with the finest across the globe on the way to a Champions League victory.
For once Steve Nicol has backed him up. The man doesn’t often pop up with nice things to say about Liverpool, but on this occasion he’s come up with the goods.
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Nicol has called him the complete defender and said he passes well, is quick and has an excellent physicality about him and finished it all off by saying he’s not sure which aspects of van Dijk’s game would make him susceptible to any forward, said Goal.
"“Well I’m interested to know which part of his game he’s not happy with because if you’re looking for a physical battle, are you telling me that Van Dijk couldn’t beat anybody up physically? Even Drogba?“Pace-wise I don’t remember seeing anybody, whether it’s the Premier League or the Champions League, running past this guy. So that’s not a problem.“Can he pass the ball? Yes, he can pass the ball. I’d love to know which part of Van Dijk’s game he thinks would be susceptible to any of these strikers that he was talking about.”"
He’s also right. VVD is one of the most complete defenders this league has ever seen and would get into any side in the world right now. His rise from mid-table footballer to world great has been as quick as Liverpool’s and it’s been glorious.
Players like Joe Gomez and even Joel Matip are made better by his calming influence, which is another notch in the defender’s belt when you consider his top flight legacy.
When he retires and we can view that through the lense of hindsight it’ll become clear.