Virgil van Dijk has endured criticism from multiple angles this term, with Dutch legends Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit turning on the 31-year-old and accusing him of lacking leadership in the national side.
Emmanuel Petit has since added his voice to the growing horde, accusing the Liverpool man of lacking confidence against Premier League strikers – ‘even the worst striker in the Premier League’.
“For me, look at Van Dijk. He was the best central defender two or three years ago. But since his injury he’s not the same player anymore,” this comes courtesy of Stadium Astro (as relayed by The Boot Room).
“He’s not the rock in the defence. He’s not a leader in the defence. He’s not giving the same security and guarantee defensively. Before that you couldn’t dribble him, it was impossible to pass him.
“Now, even the worst striker in the Premier League and he’s running back always, before that he would stop in front of you like a rock.”
The Merseysiders certainly haven’t got the best defensive record in the country (though by no means diabolically poor compared to their top four competitors), conceding the fifth-worst rate in the English top-flight with 33.
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That being said, it’s worth handing a great deal of credit to Allison Becker in that department in light of the lack of support the Brazilian has received from his teammates in 2022/23.
To what extent Van Dijk’s struggles in the backline can be blamed on the deficiencies experienced higher up the pitch remains to be seen, though there will most certainly be conversations held behind the scenes over what impact new signings are likely to have on the systematic issues currently plaguing the starting-XI.
Until we fix our midfield department with some quality additions, it’ll be difficult to determine how correct our No.4’s critics are in their assertions.