Thierry Henry has claimed that Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk is ‘immense’ and someone who is ‘not scared’ of a one v one situation, as he told Amazon Prime.
The Premier League legend stated that Van Dijk is ‘the man’ for Liverpool and what he does for the team is ‘second to none’.
Last season, during Van Dijk’s injury absence, Liverpool missed his presence, calmness, ability to read danger quickly and lift the game of others around him.
Jurgen Klopp’s side crumbled without their £220k-a-week star (Spotrac), but they managed to save their season towards the end by securing Champions League football.
Henry spoke in awe about the ice-cold centre-back, and whilst Mo Salah gets the plaudits for his goals, he explained why Van Dijk is ‘the man’.
“This is for me the man,” said Henry. “You saw it with Holland. I know we are talking about Liverpool here.
“But when he’s not there, then it’s a different ball game. He’s not scared of a one v one. You can go and he will cover you. I just think he is immense. What he does is that he allows you to stay high because he’s not scared of the one v one.
“When you have Kabak and Phillips last year, they weren’t able to deal with the one v one and Liverpool wanted to play the same way. Then they found themselves exposed. Their fullbacks were more exposed, especially on the right.
“When you have this man back, not only him, but what he does for Liverpool is second to none.”
It was during the Merseyside derby last season at Goodison Park that ended Van Dijk’s season.
Well, for the first time since that horror Jordan Pickford tackle, Van Dijk returned to Goodison and helped Liverpool secure all three points.
It was a cruise in the park for the Reds as they put four past their helpless neighbours and former manager Rafa Benitez.
It would have been the icing on the cake if Van Dijk got on the scoresheet himself, but it wasn’t meant to be as his team walked away with another crucial three points.
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