ESPN pundit and former Liverpool man Steve Nicol has been discussing Virgil van Dijk following the Netherlands’ 0-0 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina in the UEFA Nations League.
The Dutch defender’s average performance rating in the Premier League so far this season is just 6.47/10 (as per WhoScored) – which is rather disappointing when you take into consideration that last season it was a significantly higher 7.32/10.
Van Dijk played the entire 90 minutes for Frank de Boer’s side but according to Nicol, some of the same issues he has identified with regards to the 29-year-old’s recent performances for Liverpool this season were also on display in Sunday’s international fixture.
When asked by presenter Dan Thomas why the defender’s game has “fallen apart” recently, here is what the pundit had to say:
“I just think he’s too high [in his position]; he is pulling everybody up far too high.
“I think with Liverpool, he is probably five yards too high and I think today he was doing the same thing with the Dutch backline, because the Bosnians got in probably four times.
“It’s made him look a little vulnerable, it just smacked of what’s going on at Liverpool just now.”
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TIF Thoughts on Steve Nicol’s Virgil van Dijk claim…
It’s clear from Nicol’s comments that he believes the player’s starting position is “too high” and the same issue has recently been evident when the player takes to the field both at club and international level.
The Reds have already conceded 11 Premier League goals this season – that is a third of the total they conceded throughout the entirety of last term and so as a collective, it’s clear Liverpool haven’t been as defensively sound as we perhaps expected them to be. As such, you could argue that is partly down to the performances of the former Southampton defender.