Campbell: Lack of opposition pressure has hurt Van Dijk

4 hours ago, TLW said:

Sol Campbell believes that the overall brilliance of Virgil Van Dijk can also be his undoing at times.

Often players are criticised for not pushing themselves to reach their full potential.

Van Dijk certainly does not fit into that category as the big Dutchman is universally acknowledged as the best defender in the game.

While Campbell acknowledges that fact, he says that he is almost too good for those he comes up against and that could lead him subconsciously switching off at times.

The former Spurs, Arsenal and Portsmouth defender explained his thoughts to the Athletic (via the Mirror).

“I know Van Dijk struggled in the Villa game, but he stands out these days because he’s head and shoulders above everyone else, which makes me wonder if that is hampering him at the same time.

"He’s the complete player in that position and has made it look easy, but maybe he’s not been challenged enough and then, like a cricketer being done by a slower ball, he’s come unstuck.

“If you’ve not been worrying about forwards troubling you, sometimes you drop your guard a fraction. It’s a natural human thing.

“Maybe that’s seeped in a bit at Liverpool in general. I’m sure Jurgen Klopp will recognise that and get them back on track.

 

It is always very difficult to compare eras however Campbell continued his analysis on Van Dijk and openly questioned where he would be rated in the pecking order during the early to mid 00s.

“It would be interesting to see if Van Dijk would have stood out had he been playing in our time when there were lots of great centre-halves: me, John Terry, Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Jamie Carragher, Kolo Toure, Jaap Stam.

“It’d be interesting to see how he’d fit in with all these guys.”

Campbell cited the different styles of strikers that he came across on a regular basis.

“We had Robbie Fowler, Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Michael Owen, Alan Shearer, Duncan Ferguson all coming at us in very different ways, not to mention defenders like Matt Elliott, Steve Walsh, Gerry Taggart at Leicester. 

“Big guys flying at you at set plays. You had your work cut out. You had to be on it, brave in the air, because if you weren’t they were pounding you.

"They were quick, strong, tall, skillful… every week you got tested. 

“I reckon Van Dijk would be OK, he’d cope with that, but it would be interesting to watch. He’d certainly be under pressure.”

 

These comments by Campbell have a fair bit of faint praise attached but not that Virg will lose too much sleep about it.


 

 

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Modest as always is old 'Hatstand Sol.'

I think the comments are pretty fair, I think Virgils only real problem is being that good he can get a bit casual. Eras or not VvD is head and shoulders above most of the older players he has mentioned.

Head and shoulders above most of the defenders mentioned including Carragher.

Would have had no problem with most of the forwards mentioned either.

Superb centre-half. Bellend of a man. I was at Fratton park on Boxing Day years back and we were right near the Spurs end. The abuse he got was some of the vilest stuff I've heard at a football game (and I've been to Ibrox with Celtic) he absolutely didn't deserve anything like what he got. 

He is a proper cunt though. Rumour has it that David James filled him in for giving it the big 'I am'. 

Hopefully that 7-2 will hurt big Virg big time and like all top athletes he’ll come back better than ever 

I think it's a bit of a nonesensical argument Campbell is putting forward there. You can use that argument if a player isnt world class. When a player like van Dijk is world class, how do you put 'pressure' on them, buy a better world class player?

Ive thought van Dijk hasnt been on his game for a while but even his dip in form is probably better than the best of almost any other centre back in the PL.

Jonathan Liew described Virgil's performance against Villa as him playing like a man holding two pints while trying to stop his money rolling under the quiz machine. 

Even better was his description of Harry Maguire being a man made of jam in a world made of wasps. 

2 hours ago, Bjornebye said:

Superb centre-half. Bellend of a man. I was at Fratton park on Boxing Day years back and we were right near the Spurs end. The abuse he got was some of the vilest stuff I've heard at a football game (and I've been to Ibrox with Celtic) he absolutely didn't deserve anything like what he got. 

 

He is a proper cunt though. Rumour has it that David James filled him in for giving it the big 'I am'. 

Probably "filled him in" by thrashing him in a video game. 

18 minutes ago, aws said:

Probably "filled him in" by thrashing him in a video game. 

Yeah or drew him then coloured him in. 

I don't doubt that Big Virg hasn't played with his usual levels of focus recently, but Campbell is just re-hashing the old "it was tougher in my day" by suggesting that he'd have things much harder when up against the strikers of that era. It was a different game back then. How would the defenders of Campbell's era have coped with the likes of 'Fash the Bash', bumpy pitches and the pure alehouse cloggers of the 80s?