Virgil van Dijk refused to allow his Liverpool teammates to switch off during their 4-0 demolition of West Ham in their Premier League opener on Sunday, according to Garth Crooks.
The pundit and former Tottenham striker wrote in his BBC Sport column how the giant defender laid into his colleagues to ensure they did not take their foot off the pedal even when his side were in total command.
“Liverpool’s game against West Ham was no longer a contest after 55 minutes. The home side were 3-0 up and their forwards had the Hammers by the throat. Meanwhile Van Dijk was telling his fellow defenders, in no uncertain terms, that nothing short of a clean sheet would do.
“That’s the difference between Liverpool prior to Van Dijk’s arrival and the team that currently exists. Moreover there’s something of the Alan Hansen about the way he conducts himself on a football pitch.
“Apart from the obvious stature, the Dutchman always looks composed, elegant and plays with his head not just his heart.”
OPINION
Van Dijk is not only a brilliant footballer who is the prototype of the perfect centre-back – totally dominant in the air, mobile on the deck, technically excellent and whose positioning and game understanding is spot on. What makes the defender stand out among not only the roster of fine centre-backs available to Jurgen Klopp but the whole team in general is that he is an excellent communicator. Forever gesturing, hectoring, supporting and communicating to his teammates, Van Dijk is a rarity in the modern game when most players do their talking with the ball at the feet. Liverpool were crying out for a defensive leader when they signed the giant Dutchman, who has been even better than the club could have dared hoped. He already looks Liverpool’s best centre-back since Jamie Carragher, but, as Crooks points out, his style of play is much more like Hansen, a Rolls Royce of another Anfield vintage.