4 hours ago
35
It has now become an accepted fact: Virgil van Dijk is having a poor season.
The consensus is his performance levels have dropped, he’s making more mistakes, is shorn of that invincible aura, and there have even been suggestions his leadership skills have been lacking.
Following Liverpool’s capitulation at the Etihad on Sunday, the spotlight has once again settled on the Reds captain. “I don’t think he’s been at that level this season,” claimed Wayne Rooney this week. Alan Shearer said Van Dijk had been “really poor” against Manchester City, while Gary Neville, ever-eager to chime in, stated the Dutchman’s defending for Nico Gonzalez’s goal was “really strange”.
The plethora of negative comments have seeped into the general soccer psyche. On two separate podcasts this week, neither of which featured ex-players, I have heard offhand remarks about Van Dijk enduring a tough season.
But is that really the case? After all, just a few weeks ago, the 34-year-old was being routinely praised for bailing out his bundling defensive colleague, Ibrahima Konate.
The stats also show Van Dijk has not made a big error all season, and his clearances and blocks are actually up from last term. Aerially, no-one has won more duels in the Premier League this season, while he has been dribbled past just once.
Arne Slot is among those who believe the demise in his skipper’s standards has been greatly exaggerated.
“He sets the bar at 10 out of 10 and when he has a nine out of 10 [performance], he sometimes gets criticised as well,” the Liverpool head coach told Sky Sports.
“I think other players will get compliments for a nine out of 10, but he gets criticised for that. He had similar form to last season, but there were one or two moments this season where he could have done better defensively and he got criticised by that straightaway. Maybe he should see it as a compliment, because that's where he set the bar from.”
Only in September, Jamie Carragher gave a glowing verdict of Van Dijk’s performances, and insisted he is among the club’s all-time greats along with Steven Gerrard, Sir Kenny Dalglish and John Barnes.
“Without a doubt, he is right in the middle of that. And he’s not at the bottom of the list, I can assure you,” said the ex-defender.
Least of Slot’s worries
Despite that lofty praise, few would disagree that Van Dijk’s showings over recent weeks have dipped. He was at fault for Bryan Mbuemo’s opener against Manchester United, looked oddly lightweight at Brentford, and was far from his best in Sunday’s 3-0 loss in East Manchester.
He’s had a bad run between the October and November international breaks. Yet Van Dijk won’t be the first, or last, elite player to suffer a minor downturn in form for a few weeks. Even in this spell, he excelled in wins over Aston Villa and Real Madrid.
The pile-on has been overblown and exaggerated.
Most pundits overlook how disjointed Liverpool’s team has been this season. It has affected all of last season’s stars: Mohamed Salah, Alexis Mac Allister, Konate — why would Van Dijk be any different?
In fact, the former Celtic and Southampton man has been impacted by Konate’s inconsistencies and the fragilities of Milos Kerkez at left-back. It has been evident for some time that Van Dijk has found the Hungarian’s start to life at Liverpool exasperating, and it’s no surprise that his performances improved when Andy Robertson returned to the side recently.
Without Ryan Gravenberch — as was the case in the latter stages against United, and at Brentford — Liverpool’s midfield is too porous. Opposition attacks become more frequent, leaving Liverpool’s backline exposed and mistakes inevitable.
In addition, the fragmented nature of the team this season, coupled with a slight shift in tactics after the summer signings, means Van Dijk and his Liverpool teammates are defending differently.
As referenced by Slot, the Reds are facing more long balls, while the stats show Liverpool as a team is making significantly fewer tackles and interceptions this term compared to last. That adaptation will inevitably come with its share of teething problems.
The Reds will hope at least some of these issues are put to bed when the season resumes next week, with the run of fixtures from November to March the longest unbroken run of the campaign.
Performances need to improve, as do results, while Slot must find a coherent system to maximise the talents of his star players.
At the bottom of his list of concerns will be Van Dijk’s displays. Despite media scrutiny, the 34-year-old remains Liverpool’s most dependable leader.
English (US) ·