Virgil van Dijk has promised Liverpool fans he’s going to work extremely hard to show us his highest level.
The Dutchman arrived for £75m at the beginning of January, but hasn’t been his brilliant best, despite scoring a Merseyside Derby winner against Everton in the FA Cup.
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He was rested for our victory over Huddersfield midweek, but is likely to return to the lineup today against Spurs – but it’s not certain who he’ll play alongside.
So far, Van Dijk has started with Joel Matip, but the Cameroonian’s been poor and Dejan Lovren is regarded by many Reds now as actually a better option..
But when discussing his team-mates, Van Dijk forgot to mention the Croat, while praising Matip, Joe Gomez and Ragnar Klavan instead!
“I just want to give everything I have and I think I can help the team maybe to achieve a little bit more than what the club is already doing,” he said, reported in the Express.
“But it doesn’t mean because I was bought for so much money that I am going to play every week. I still need to prove myself.
“We have amazing defenders here – don’t get me wrong about that. I just need to prove myself week-in and week-out and that is what I am going to do.
“My qualities can always bring something extra than others but, like I already said, the rest of the defenders have done extremely well.
“I think Joel Matip is a great defender. There is Joe Gomez coming through the ranks and then Ragnar Klavan, who I know from back in Holland, is doing very well as well.
“So I just want to work hard, show what I can bring to the table and if that is enough to play every week then that is the case.”
Obviously, not much should be read into this…
Lovren, since his nightmare against Tottenham, has played well this term, although reactionary, angry fans won’t be able to admit it.
We’d put him next to Van Dijk as the right centre-back. Their styles complement each other because Lovren is very aggressive and, while Van Dijk is better on the ball.