OPINION
Michael Owen has well and truly jumped the gun by implying that Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk can cope with playing against any striker in the world.
The former Reds forward gushed about the 6ft 3in tall centre-back’s ability in his column for the Daily Mail, and made a ridiculously huge claim about his talents in the process.
“Dzeko is at the top of his game but so is Virgil van Dijk,” wrote Owen for the national newspaper.
“I’ve always thought that the size of him, his presence, strength and passing ability made him like two players, and he scores goals.
“With him, I’m not concerned with any striker in the world, he is colossal.”
There’s no denying that van Dijk has been impressive ever since arriving at Anfield in January from Southampton, but he hasn’t warranted that sort of praise just yet.
The giant defender has put in some memorable displays for the Reds in the 16 outings he has made so far for them, and looks likely to justify the club’s decision to pay £75million, as reported by the BBC, for his services.
However it’s way too soon to say that he can handle playing against any striker in the world, even if they’re in the form of their career, as he hasn’t been tested enough.
Van Dijk may have played 36 times in the Champions League, across his time at the Reds and Celtic, but most of these appearances have been in either the qualification rounds or the group stages of the competition.
This means that while the defender has come up against some top quality strikers, he hasn’t exactly had Europe’s best constantly hounding him in games.
Also the Dutch centre-back hasn’t yet been able to shine on the world stage, as with only 18 international caps to his name, he is yet to feature at a World Cup or at the Euros with the Netherlands.
Until he proves himself at the highest-level in Europe or on the World stage consistently, it’s ridiculous to claim at this current time that he can successfully cope with playing any striker in the world.
Owen’s claim may eventually be proven right but by stating it this early in his Reds’ career, the pundit has jumped the gun with his praise.