Jamie O'Hara makes fool of himself after embarrassing Virgil van Dijk claim

Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O'Hara has bizarrely used the 2005 Ballon d'Or to make a point about Virgil van Dijk, just a day after claiming no one cares about the award

TalkSPORT pundit Jamie O'Hara was incensed by Jermaine Pennant's preference of Virgil van Dijk over John Terry(Image: YouTube/talkSPORT)

Jamie O'Hara has bizarrely used the 2005 Ballon d'Or to make a point about Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk, just a day after he said no one cares about the award.

Appearing on talkSPORT's 'The Sports Bar' alongside former Reds winger Jermaine Pennant, the two ex-Premier League soccer players began by talking about Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, whose agent recently cooled speculation surrounding a move to Real Madrid that could have seen him link up with former teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold.

However, the pair then got into a discussion about Van Dijk, with Pennant claiming he would rather have Van Dijk over the likes of Chelsea legend John Terry, as well as Manchester United duo Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic — an admission which sent O'Hara over the edge.

"We talk about Van Dijk, 'Oh he's the greatest center-half ever,' and then you look back, and you go, hold on a minute, John Terry, Nemanja Vidic, and Rio Ferdinand, like people forget Vincent Kompany," said O'Hara, before Pennant said: "But I think he is, I think out of all those you named, look at the age of Van Dijk now. Look at the age of Van Dijk.

"You think he's better than all of them?" asked O'Hara, prompting Pennant to respond: "He's 34. At 34, Rio was playing at QPR.

"Van Dijk is at Liverpool, playing competitive football, playing in the Champions League, and still scoring... So how can you disrespect Van Dijk like that? He's still playing at the top of his game."

Incredulous, O'Hara replied: "Are you genuinely sitting here and saying that Van Dijk is better than John Terry? Are you genuinely saying that? You're saying that he's better than John Terry, he's better than Rio Ferdinand? This wasn't even the discussion I thought we were going to have, but I can't believe you've even said that."

Pennant then made reference to the fact that Van Dijk finished second in the 2019 Ballon d'Or voting, finishing behind arguably the greatest player of all time in Lionel Messi, an accomplishment Terry did not achieve despite enjoying a prestigious career.

O'Hara replied: "Who cares about the Ballon d'Or? Do me a favor, what are you on about? Are you joking? ... You actually genuinely believe Virgil van Dijk is better than John Terry, better than Rio Ferdinand, better than Vidic?"

Then, just a day after his on-air defender discussion with Pennant, O'Hara seemingly decided to undermine his entire point. On X, he posted a photo of the 2005 Ballon d'Or list, which Ronaldinho won, writing: "2005 ballon dor, don’t tell me Van djik gets on this list. game is just not what this level was and hasn’t been for some time."

Ironically, Terry, Vidic, and Ferdinand did not make the top 30.

The reality of the fairly aimless discussion, however, is that all three of Terry, Ferdinand, and Vidic were world-class defenders, a category Van Dijk also falls into.

They have all won the Premier League and Champions League, albeit Terry was suspended for Chelsea's 2012 final triumph over Bayern Munich.