Virgil Van Dijk

[Chip Butty]

|He's a Rolls Royce of a player

He couldn't be more Liverpool if he was born out of a magical love match between Dirk and Sami

 

And both managed my Germans. 

[G Richards]

Kuyt is well loved and respected, and rightly so. Top fella. As a player he gave his all. That’s not to damn him with faint praise though, as he was good, even very good, and often popped up with a big goal. He was never an elite player though.

 

I would put Kuyt on a similar sort of level to Carra. Well respected by all reds, and rightly so. The similarity with Kuyt is that he got the most out of his ability, and he put in some displays in very big games that helped the legend grow. Hopefully not too controversially, as I like Carra, but for me not an elite player in ability. Not like Van Dijk.

 

Van Dijk has got the lot. Pace. Strength. Aerial ability. Good on the ball. Composure. He’s only just getting started at Liverpool so we need to wait to form a definitive view. Hopefully he wins the PL and CL with us, and then he will go down as a legend. He will probably be captain at some point too, but we’ll have to see.

 

He on another level as a player to Kuyt and Carra, but at the same time, he hasn’t done anything at Liverpool yet as he’s only just started, so we’re going to have to wait and see how high up the ladder he ascends in our affections.

[Jairzinho]

Good post, Rev. Although I'd add that VVD hasn't actually done much anywhere yet.

[mattyq]

I love these selective memories that make our former players far better than they ever were.

Sigh, 

I wish I could be you for just one day

I can only imagine the depths of your genius...imagine...the glory!

Us poor rubes labouring in our ignorance and filth...you must laugh so much

Here's me thinking Dirk scored 71 goals in 285 appearances yet only now can I begin to see his limitations... thank you so much for educating us all

I mean, somebody ignorant might think that your opinion on a player is just that, an opinion and as valid or not as anybody else. They might think to claim otherwise is arrogant nonsense and a little embarrassing, the fools!

[VladimirIlyich]

Sigh,

I wish I could be you for just one day

I can only imagine the depths of your genius...imagine...the glory!

Us poor rubes labouring in our ignorance and filth...you must laugh so much

Here's me thinking Dirk scored 71 goals in 285 appearances yet only now can I begin to see his limitations... thank you so much for educating us all

I mean, somebody ignorant might think that your opinion on a player is just that, an opinion and as valid or not as anybody else. They might think to claim otherwise is arrogant nonsense and a little embarrassing, the fools!

'Arrogant nonsense?' I thought you said it was also about opinions? You obviously have missed my post where I said I liked him but realised his limitations as a player and the Rev's excellent post about Kuyt being very good but not top class.

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

Kuyt was a very good player for us, but never great. A legend because of the occasions and the teams he scored against.

[VladimirIlyich]

Kuyt was a very good player for us, but never great. A legend because of the occasions and the teams he scored against.

Thank you for your common sense and accurate summary.

[aRdja]

Thank you for your common sense and accurate summary.

If you agree that Kuyt was a very good player, then why would you regard it as an insult to Van Dijk to compare the two players? You seem a touch confused.

[magicrat]

Kuyt worked his bollocks off for the cause but he was poor in front of goal much of the time,.

On balance he was an asset to the team at the time. To my mind he was good not great

[Carvalho Diablo]

I remember the narrative, Rafa wanted Alves but we also needed a striker, so he spent the money on Kuyt and Pennant instead. What fucking flummoxes me though is Rafa's decision to stick Pennant's arse on the bench and effectively turn poor Dirkk into a grafting defensive right sided forward.

 

Hardly any wonder he never set the world on fire given his role under Benitez.

 

Funny fucker was Rafa, I remember when he blew the budget on Robbie Keane and also signed Yossi Benayoun on the cheap; I was watching when Keane made his debut off the bench preseason against Valeranga (I think), Rafa brings both him and Yossi on and I sat, open jawed scratching my head in disbelief, as Yossi played as a false 9 with Keane played out on the wing! Yep, could be a funny fucker our Rafa.

[TheHowieLama]

Kuyt was better in that role than he would have ever been upfront in England - and Gerrard killed it given free rein playing on the right.

One thing Rafa could do was control the pitch and get players into the areas where they could help the team the most.

[Mathewbet1]

He's calmness personified is van dyk. Anyone who cant see the massive impact he has made is either blind or stupid. A worldclass defender.

[Razoray]

I remember the narrative, Rafa wanted Alves but we also needed a striker, so he spent the money on Kuyt and Pennant instead. What fucking flummoxes me though is Rafa's decision to stick Pennant's arse on the bench and effectively turn poor Dirkk into a grafting defensive right sided forward.

 

Hardly any wonder he never set the world on fire given his role under Benitez.

 

Funny fucker was Rafa, I remember when he blew the budget on Robbie Keane and also signed Yossi Benayoun on the cheap; I was watching when Keane made his debut off the bench preseason against Valeranga (I think), Rafa brings both him and Yossi on and I sat, open jawed scratching my head in disbelief, as Yossi played as a false 9 with Keane played out on the wing! Yep, could be a funny fucker our Rafa.

Rafa played Pennant on the right and Kuyt up front for a season. He then bought Torres who took Dirk's position up front so he went to the right and Pennant went to the bench. He was building a squad.

 

Yossi was bought in 2007 a year before Keane was. When Keane was at Spurs he played up top with Berbatov mostly but they also had Defoe and/or Bent so was regularly played wide. He wasnt good enough to be a wide player with us but it wasn't as strange as it's made out.

[1892-LFCWasBorn]

John Arne Riise‏Verified account @JARiiseOfficial Apr 5

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100% sure that @VirgilvDijk coming to the club has raised the level of defending and the focus on how to defend as a team. Everybody has raised their game at the back since he joined. Proves that having a great leader lifts the team. I had it with @Carra23 and Sami

 

Is right.

[lifetime fan]

Worth every fucking penny. 

[TheHowieLama]

Yep - transformed the side

[Grinch]

Yep, like a black Sami Hyypia.

[Ne Moe Imya]

It's amazing to me how he's changed the way we defend set pieces.

 

Do you remember how you used to feel when the opposition got a free kick anywhere in our half? It was an instant cold sweat and a feeling of "this is going to end up bouncing around in our box, who knows what could happen."

 

Now? It's just "meh, let's try to counterattack off this."

 

The whole feeling of defending for set pieces has completely changed. Transformative, that's what he's been.

[karl1987]

Liverpool have now kept five clean sheets since Virgil van Dijk's Premier League debut.
 

No other team has more in the same period.

[dockers_strike]

Liverpool have now kept five clean sheets since Virgil van Dijk's Premier League debut.

 

No other team has more in the same period.

 

Makes a mockery of that Dom King column that said the defence has been far from convincing since he signed. Thought he was impereous again today. My MoTM

[magicrat]

Makes a mockery of that Dom King column that said the defence has been far from convincing since he signed. Thought he was impereous again today. My MoTM

 

He played well again today and held the defence together, In truth he wasn't worked too hard, 

I thought Gino was MOM,  Milner and VVD  = 2

[suzy]

I agree, I’m nowhere near as nervous when we defend. He’s really made a difference.

[Ginny]

Watching his win every header and ping balls across the field is a sight to hold. Not being funny but I don’t hes even got out of second gear yet

[Jay86]

Watching his win every header and ping balls across the field is a sight to hold. Not being funny but I don’t hes even got out of second gear yet

He heads it further than Mignolet can kick it. His cushioned headers are very good aswell, he jumps as if he’s about to launch it up the field and casually flicks it to someone free. He’s made such a huge difference to the way we set up.

[Bob]

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