Liverpool have enjoyed a successful start to the season and there are many key players who have played an important role in this but Mario Melchiot has highlighted the role of one man.
Appearing on Premier League Productions, the 47-year-old spoke about Virgil van Dijk: “In Holland they were hard on him because we had one of the key players in our country, Marco van Basten and he’s one of the the legends in our country, and he had a go at him, in the sense of asking him to do things that Van Dijk normally doesn’t do.
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“Like dictating the play, in the sense of demanding the ball and spreading the ball around but no, Van Dijk is like no, he’s very good at defending and in England that’s what he’s good at and that’s what we like to see from him.
“In Holland, sometimes they want you to play, it’s almost like asking him to start dribbling people and with
some points he was right van Basten but some points I also feel like, let him do what he’s good at.
“Van Dijk looks more comfortable and also now the team also looks better.”
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Although the former Wigan defender is clearly trying to back our No.4 here, it seems clear that he also thinks that our captain’s ability to play out from the back isn’t a strength of his game.
It’s taken some time since his knee injury but the Dutchman seems to be back to his impervious best and he’ll keep proving critics (like Marco van Basten) wrong.
You can watch Melchiot’s comments on Van Dijk (from 19:09) courtesy of Premier League Productions (via Football Crazy on YouTube):
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