Jamie Redknapp has hailed the “ingenuity” of Virgil van Dijk for setting the ball rolling for Liverpool’s quick-thinking opening goal against Fulham on Sunday.
Writing in his weekly Daily Mail column, the high-profile pundit gushed over the centre-back for encouraging goalkeeper Alisson to take a quick free-kick to Trent Alexander-Arnold immediately after Aleksandar Mitrovic had a goal ruled out for off-side.
Alexander-Arnold’s excellent pass up the right flank set Mohamed Salah through on goal and the Egyptian seized brilliantly upon the opportunity to score the first of the hosts’ two goals as they temporarily climbed back to the Premier League summit.
“Liverpool’s breakaway goal against Fulham looked like a great piece of quick thinking from Alisson,” Redknapp told the Mail. “Watch the replay more closely and you’ll see it is Virgil van Dijk who tells his goalkeeper to take the free-kick quickly.
“A moment of ingenuity and leadership like this highlights Van Dijk’s value to Jurgen Klopp’s side. With every week that passes, the £75m man is proving he is worth every penny.”
OPINION
One thing that Van Dijk never stops doing all game is talking. Sometimes he encourages, on other occasions he hectors or instructs sergeant-major style. But Liverpool’s stand-in skipper against Fulham is a bossy boots that the team were crying out for, in addition to his many other qualities of aerial dominance, outstanding positioning two-footed technical excellence. Van Dijk cruised through Sunday’s triumph against Fulham as Liverpool went into the international break on a high after their midweek defeat to Red Star Belgrade. Indeed, the centre-back could probably have played in an overcoat and leather brogues so comfortable did he look against a Fulham side that gave up the ghost once the second Liverpool goal from Xherdan Shaqiri went in. Van Dijk is an extraordinarily good player without also being a vocal one. But it’s a dimension to his game that has made a huge difference to Liverpool.