Phil McNulty has questioned whether Virgil van Dijk has indeed returned back to the form he was showing ‘in his first few seasons at Liverpool’.
The chief football writer nonetheless offered some words of praise in response to the impressive start the Dutchman has made in the current campaign.
“Van Dijk is certainly a lot more like his former self this season and has taken to Liverpool’s captaincy exactly as you would expect a player of his quality and experience to do,” the BBC Sport columnist wrote in a fan Q&A. “I’m not sure he is back to the form he showed in his first few seasons at Liverpool but he is still an outstanding defender that pretty much [any] club in the world would be happy to have in their side.”
With only nine goals conceded in the English top-flight thus far, Jurgen Klopp’s men have the third-best defence in the league behind Tottenham (8), Arsenal (8) and Manchester City (7).
We can certainly appreciate that there was a time in which Virgil van Dijk was, by far and out, the best centre-half in world football.
Whilst a serious injury sustained at the hands of a grossly reckless Jordan Pickford challenge several seasons ago may have dampened his powers somewhat, one might feel inclined to argue, off the back of his recent performances, that he’s not far off the summit.
From a domestic point of view, we’re certainly struggling to think of any defenders who come close to Van Dijk at the peak of his powers!
#Ep94 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️