Why talk of Van Dijk's Liverpool demise is grossly exaggerated
Did Arsenal bottle the Premier League title at Anfield? Is Trent Alexander-Arnold really back to his best? Is Andy Robertson a big baby after being elbowed by the linesman at the interval!? It's fair to say there were a number of talking points from Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Arsenal last weekend in a high-octane affair that the Reds could, and perhaps should, have won having missed a second half penalty and faced down an inspired Aaron Ramsdale, the Gunners shotstopper making two world class stops to deny Mohamed Salah and Ibrahima Konate at the death.
However perhaps the main point of discussion centred around Virgil van Dijk. The Liverpool centre-back returned a WhoScored rating of just 6.17 in the clash on Merseyside last weekend, marking his fifth worst performance in a Premier League match this season. The critics were out in force as they quickly mobilised to state that Van Dijk was a busted flush, a centre-back past his best and a core reason behind Liverpool's dramatic decline this season.
The performance again brought up the age old debate over who was the better centre-back - Van Dijk or Manchester United hero Nemanja Vidic as Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville quickly picked their sides, remaining loyal to their respective clubs and understandably so. Yet the argument that Van Dijk is done and dusted as a top-quality Liverpool defender is such a low hanging fruit that it might as well be on the floor.
This is the problem with the centre-back, who is so routinely compared with the best in the game that any dip in form, as minor or major as may be, is blown way out of proportion, and Sunday's game at Anfield was no exception. The issue now becomes whether this is the start of the decline for Van Dijk, or whether he is a victim of circumstance in a Liverpool side that has endured a major drop in performance levels since last season.
Well, in all honesty, it's a little bit of both, but to an extent. The former largely stems from the latter. There is no denying that Liverpool need to add central midfielders to the ranks this summer. They can no longer rely on an out-of-sorts Fabinho, an injury-prone Thiago or an ageing Jordan Henderson to shoulder the midfield burden at Anfield in Liverpool's pursuit to re-establish themselves as the best in the land.
It's no coincidence that Liverpool's return of 10 shots conceded per game, while the fourth lowest in the Premier League this season, is actually at their highest since the 2015/16 campaign. Without sufficient protection, Alisson is tested more and, as a result, Liverpool are far from their best defensively. Without the midfield easing the pressure on the backline, Klopp's side are more open and this heightens the workload on the defence, who can only do so much to prevent Liverpool from conceding.
Now that's not to excuse Van Dijk completely from his role in Liverpool's dip, but the additional pressure on the defence and the Reds goal will eventually prove telling as has so often been the case this season. Matter of factly, Van Dijk is still a world class centre-back whose struggles have been accentuated in a side that needs a refresh and while a potential lack of Champions League football may hinder their quest to add quality reinforcements this summer, there is still a solid defensive core to work with.
Bolster that midfield accordingly with the relevant personnel to ensure the defence is shielded and Van Dijk will quickly look back to his dominant best. Admittedly the Dutchman has been in a position before where the side he is playing for is more open, notably during his days with Southampton, but a more youthful Van Dijk prior to the cruciate ligament rupture he sustained in October 2020 that prematurely ended his 2020/21 season was always going to deal with sustained pressure better than a 31-year-old defender in the modern game.
Maybe he does need to tinker his game slightly to make up for the physical shortcomings that come from a serious knee injury combined with time itself, yet the blame for a worst rated Premier League season of his career largely stems from poor planning by the club, who have elected to focus their efforts on strengthening the attack rather than improve what has become a big problem area for Liverpool.
Nevertheless, this season hasn't had a huge impact Van Dijk's overall Premier League rating in his career. Combined with his Southampton days, Van Dijk has returned a WhoScored rating of 7.29, a fine return for a player who has made 220 top-flight appearances following his arrival in England back in 2015. Of centre-backs to have made at least 75 appearances since WhoScored started collecting Opta data from 2009/10, only one has earned a better rating than the Netherlands international. Of course, that centre-back is Vidic (7.43), though this does miss the opening three-and-a-half years of the 41-year-old's time at Old Trafford.
On the whole, Van Dijk remains one of the best centre-backs to have graced the Premier League since its 1992 inception. Reports of his demise are an exaggeration and if Liverpool can get their recruitment right this summer, then football fans will again witness Van Dijk at his dominating best.
