Virgil Van Dijk

[dockers_strike]

Were we trying to hold a line on free kicks before he arrived? I don’t recall it being an obvious ploy, and yet now at least once or twice a game we entirely remove the threat of a free kick by just not retreating and catching 2 or 3 attackers offside. There was one against city where it went through for a goal kick but had it reached a city player they would’ve been off, then it happened at the end of the Everton game resulting in fat Sam asking his players “what the fuck was that?”.

 

I don’t remember it being a tactic before he arrived, and it got me to wondering whether it might have been his idea or proposal to the staff.

 

Obviously he’s a great communicator and demands that others don’t move, and he’s great in the air, but I struggle to think Klopp would not have been doing this before simply because we didn’t have him.

 

I reckon he’s turned up and said, we should do this

 

I am pretty sure we did but we just were not organised or had the bottle to do it properly.

[scudger99]

Plenty of folks were critical of Klopp when he wouldn't sign an alternative CB when the Van Dijk fiasco happened in the summer transfer window.

Now we know why Klopp simply wasn't interested in anyone else.  What alternative player could have come in and had the effect Van Dijk has ?

For me, Van Dijk has had a similar impact at the back as Salah has at the front.  If Keita has a similar impact in the middle next season then we are going to be in for a fun ride.

I remember Andy Gray once said of Gerrard that "special players do special things in special moments".  That statement immediately sprung to mind when Van Dijk headed the winner against the bitters on his debut. 
That and he makes other players around him play better.

Thank the fucking lord that Klopp is his own man and wouldn't settle for an alternative.

[Elite]

Only criticism is he's missed a few good chances to score, but defensively he's immense.

[Numero Veinticinco]

Only criticism is he's missed a few good chances to score, but defensively he's immense.

Yeah, I think that will likely click soon and he'll do quite well with that. He's imperious in the air. Looking forward to him getting quite a few.

[Josef Svejk]

His facial hair and pony tail are shite.

 

Other than that, I'm satisfied thus far...

[aws]

He'll score in Kiev.

[Ginny]

The way he shielded the ball out of play against KDB the other night was incredible with his thighs glistening under the floodlight Anfield Road end.

[Grinch]

He hasn't even been much of a threat at all from pieces but I don't care if that remains the same as long as his defending does too.

[Rotpeter]

[Jay86]

He hasn't even been much of a threat at all from pieces but I don't care if that remains the same as long as his defending does too.

He’s been a massive threat? Have you not been watching him, he could easily have had 5 goals already for us he’s just not been accurate at all. I reckon he’ll be good for 5-8 goals next season.

[Mark M]

He’s been a massive threat? Have you not been watching him, he could easily have had 5 goals already for us he’s just not been accurate at all. I reckon he’ll be good for 5-8 goals next season.

 

Agreed he's made a massive difference already for us, since he's come in opposition teams are having problems dealing with us from corners. 

[INTORRESTING]

He fancies the free kicks too.

[Jay86]

Agreed he's made a massive difference already for us, since he's come in opposition teams are having problems dealing with us from corners.

He’d have scored quite a few already and the one against the Mancs I think it was was a right sitter, people can’t deal with not only his size but his timing in the air, he’s unreal.

[ZonkoVille77]

Next season's Capitano

[Ginny]

Watching him gazelle around the pitch, the floodlights kissing his glistening skin, his length protruding beneath his shorts.

[Guest]

Watching him gazelle around the pitch, the floodlights kissing his glistening skin, his length protruding beneath his shorts.

Warning! The following content is NOT WORK SAFE. Click the Show button to reveal.

[Thoth]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/apr/09/virgil-van-dijk-brings-calm-and-confidence-to-liverpool

 

The world’s most expensive defender happens to be one of the calmest but it is not merely Virgil van Dijk’s unflappable nature that explains his confidence in Liverpool’s mission at Manchester City.

 

At the Etihad Campus on Monday Van Dijk was asked whether the fit‑again Sergio Agüero could cause Liverpool more problems than Gabriel Jesus. “If we defend the way we did the other night against them, it does not matter who plays as a striker,” came the reply. City require something special to ruffle this Liverpool defence.

 

Liverpool, said Van Dijk, are “the perfect fit” for the centre-half who ignored interest from their Champions League opponents on Tuesday and Chelsea to move to Anfield for £75m in January. “I love the club already,” the Netherlands international said. In Jürgen Klopp he has found “the complete manager” and in his new team‑mates the 26-year-old has absolute faith that his pursuit of silverware will be satisfied. That quest continues at the Etihad Stadium, where Klopp’s team take a 3-0 lead into the quarter-final second leg.

 

Any Liverpool fan fretting that this may not be enough against Pep Guardiola’s prolific yet vulnerable team would have nerves soothed, massaged and oiled by a few minutes in Van Dijk’s company.

 

“I’m never nervous,” the Liverpool defender said of the return against City. “I am just excited. I think: ‘Look where I am, playing for the semi-finals of the Champions League with my team. Just enjoy it and love it,’ We are 3-0 up in a massive game, our fans are going to be ready and it is a great place to play. It is a fantastic opportunity.

 

“I always have been calm, sometimes a little too much. Sometimes that cost me back in the day, to be fair. What we do as players is something you need to enjoy. If everything goes well, I will play until I’m 36 or 37 hopefully and then football is over, so just enjoy it. That is why I started to play football and why I wanted to do it day in, day out. Sometimes you lose but, if you win, the feeling is amazing.”

 

Van Dijk had that winning feeling after only 20 minutes of the first leg at Anfield last week, when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain swept Liverpool’s second goal beyond Ederson and into the Kop net. He admits: “At 2-0 I had that feeling a bit, with the fans and the way we played. I felt we would keep pushing and pushing and then when you score the third before half-time it is a bit strange sitting in the dressing room 3-0 up against City.

 

“They have not been 3-0 down at all this season but we still had to get ready for the second half and for the game here. At 2-0 there was a feeling we were doing something special and we need to keep going.”Hopefully we will be celebrating again after this game.

 

The Dutch defender’s contentment and confidence in Liverpool is reciprocated. Klopp’s team have kept seven clean sheets in the 13 games that Van Dijk has played for the club – two in the two Champions League ties he has started so far – and they denied City, the highest scoring side in the Premier League, a single shot on target at Anfield last week.

 

“I don’t take credit on my own for that,” Van Dijk says of his impact. “It is the whole way we defend. If you look closely at what the three up front do collectively and then the guys behind, it makes it so much easier for us. Then obviously there is Loris [Karius] as the last line. The guys up front put the work in which is magnificent.

 

“Overall, the left-back, right-back, centre-backs, Loris, midfielders and forwards are putting in the work, and then on the training field with the manager. Everyone around us is fantastic and should be proud of how we defend and how many goals we have scored. Without the help of everyone else Mo [salah] would not have so many goals. Everyone is doing their bit.”

 

Van Dijk insists on collective credit for Liverpool’s defensive improvement but admits he relishes the responsibility of being the man whom team-mates and fans will turn to should Agüero, Jesus or another City player open the scoring at the Etihad Stadium. “I like pressure anyway,” he adds. “You want the challenge and to have every day that feeling you need to push yourself, otherwise it becomes a little bit boring. I think with Liverpool every day is a challenge in training. You are playing against one of the best strikers in Europe.

 

“I am enjoying every bit of it. It makes me keep going and will make me better every day. I want to sit down when I am retired and think I did everything possible to get the best out of myself, not to be thinking: ‘I should have done that or worked a little bit harder.’ I think everything is possible.”

[lifetime fan]

All I hear from the pundits is he’s not proven anything yet.

 

Anyone would think they don’t have a fucking clue what they’re talking about.

[Jay86]

All I hear from the pundits is he’s not proven anything yet.

 

Anyone would think they don’t have a fucking clue what they’re talking about.

Most of them don’t, if people can’t see the difference he’s made to not only Karius but Lovren aswell is remarkable, his calmness seems to settle Lovren’s tendency to act like a moron.

 

Think there’s a slight bit of tension brewing between him and Henderson a few times now they’ve been caught shouting at each, mainly from Henderson, I think he knows his time as Captain is up.

[Dicko]

Him & The Ox Chap have been immense signings.

I like this fella a lot.

[dockers_strike]

Most of them don’t, if people can’t see the difference he’s made to not only Karius but Lovren aswell is remarkable, his calmness seems to settle Lovren’s tendency to act like a moron.

 

Think there’s a slight bit of tension brewing between him and Henderson a few times now they’ve been caught shouting at each, mainly from Henderson, I think he knows his time as Captain is up.

 

I do not think there is any tension between players in our squad. Klopp would not allow it.

[neopulian]

VVD's biggest accomplishment is that he had turned Lovren into Fabio fucking Cannavaro. 

[TheHowieLama]

“I always have been calm, sometimes a little too much. Sometimes that cost me back in the day, to be fair. 

 

 

It cost us today and we got away with it - drive the boat ya big blert.

[Scooby Dudek]

He fucked up for their goal, but he never let it effect his or anyone elses'  performance. 

[Evil_Ways]

He fucked up for their goal, but he never let it effect his or anyone elses' performance.

Yeah, not sure what he was complaining about? But the main mistake there was Karius not kicking the ball long i think.

Did the little cunt Sterling pull him back? I couldnt make anything out.