Colin Kazim-Richards appeared to suggest that footballers are, at the very least, wary of challenging Virgil van Dijk physically.
The London-born footballer paid credit to former Manchester City star Joleon Lescott, though raised questions over how tough a player the Dutch international was.
“I don’t know if he was tough. I played against him at PSG. There’s nobody I’ve come up against physically where I’ve thought ‘ah’,” the pundit spoke on Filthy Fellas (via The Boot Room).
“I give [Joleon] Lescott his due, he was physical. If you hit him it was like two walls coming together. I never played against Virgil.
“I would say that Virgil is big, but nobody plays up against him so I don’t know how strong he is.
“They don’t play against him, that’s not to take anything away from Virgil, but when you see strikers play up against him it could be a different story.”
The former Southampton man has without question been a transformational signing for the Merseysiders alongside Alisson Becker, catapulting Jurgen Klopp’s men into the stratosphere of Premier League and European glory.
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The idea that we can question Van Dijk’s physical ability seems a little laughable, if you ask us, given how aerially dominant the 32-year-old is.
Often, however, his positioning and intelligence on the pitch means he can protect the backline without having to put in a flashy slide tackle to save the game.
Wasn’t it Paolo Maldini who once said ‘If I have to make a tackle, then I have already made a mistake’?
If it’s good enough for the AC Milan legend, it’s more than good enough for our Dutch colossus.
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