Speaking on the Wrighty’s House Podcast, Ian Wright has been discussing Virgil van Dijk and the pace the Dutchman possesses.
The centre-half is amongst the fastest players in the Premier League, but you very rarely see him break into a sprint due to his incredible positioning.
Wright states that despite being so fast, van Dijk doesn’t actually have to use his pace that often because of his defensive ability.
What’s Wright said?
The pundit spoke about the defender’s speed.
“It was really cool, I watched Virgil van Dijk live the other day. Watching him being as quick as he is, because he is quick, he’s lost hardly anything, being as quick as he is and he still doesn’t do that thing where he goes ‘I’m quicker than him, so I’m fine’. He’s still doing everything where he gets in and then if anything happens he’ll use his pace. He drops off, against Virgil with his pace you need more, when I played against Cannavaro who was the best, players like this aren’t looking at what you’re doing, they’re looking at what the midfielders are doing,” Wright said.
Doesn’t need to use it
Pace is one of van Dijk’s best attributes, but due to the fact he’s so good positionally, he barely needs to use it.
Van Dijk’s speed, of course, does get him out of trouble every now and then, but it’s hard to remember the last time he actually needed to go into a full sprint.
As Wright says, the Dutchman is usually one or two steps ahead of the opposition, and that means that he doesn’t always have to showcase his speed.
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