Martin Skrtel believes that one Liverpool player is ‘back to his best’ this season and has sent an emphatic riposte to his doubters.
The 2022/23 campaign was a largely difficult one for the Reds, characterised by a drop-off in standards from the usually rock-solid Virgil van Dijk, but the 32-year-old has been immense ever since taking on the club captaincy last summer following Jordan Henderson’s departure.
In an interview with The Athletic, the former LFC defender praised the Dutchman for how he’s ‘stepped up’ for his team in recent months and recovered from the ACL injury which curtailed his 2020/21 season, proclaiming him to be back among the world’s best players in his position.
Skrtel said: “When you lose players like Henderson and [James] Milner, they are always going to be big misses, not only on the pitch but off it too. Virgil has really stepped up. He’s the leader and the main man. I think the captaincy has helped him. You can see that with his performances. He’s back to his best.
“After he had that serious injury, people doubted him but the way he’s played this season has shown he’s got so much left to offer. He’s right up there with the best centre-backs in the world. With the consistency he’s shown, I’d love to see him getting individual trophies as well as lifting collective trophies with the team.”
This time last year, some pundits may have been tempted to dismiss Van Dijk as a player on a downward spiral whose best days were behind him, but the Liverpool skipper has answered his critics in some style since the summer.
Being given the captaincy seems to have galvanised him and that’s come across in his performances, leading the way for aerial duels won per game at Anfield (4.5) and also boasting the squad’s second-best passing average with 90.7% (WhoScored).
He’s also chipped in with a respectable tally of four goals in the current campaign, most notably the late winner in extra time of the Carabao Cup final to bag his first (and hopefully not last) trophy as Reds captain.
For Van Dijk to come back from his nine-month ACL layoff and, at 32, rediscover such levels of excellence this season is a testament to the incredible quality and mental fortitude that he possesses, and he looks like a player who could keep performing to world-class levels well into his 30s.
If Liverpool are to enjoy further silverware in May, the Dutchman will have been an enormous contributor towards that success.