Liverpool’s Premier League ace Virgil van Dijk silenced his critics with a decisive penalty as the Netherlands defeated Greece to secure their spot at Euro 2024, according to former Dutch striker Pierre van Hooijdonk.
If Liverpool’s number four was suffering the after-effects of some stinging criticism of his recent performances, then he certainly didn’t show it.
Virgil van Dijk, a centre-half lest we forget, stepped up, chest out, as the Netherlands were awarded their second penalty of the game during the dying seconds of Tuesday’s 1-0 win in Greece, succeeding where Wout Weghorst had failed while keeping the his country’s hopes of a place on the plane to next summer’s European Championships alive.
Liverpool ace Virgil van Dijk steps up for Netherlands
“There has been regular criticism of him. He is said to be in a bad period,” Van Hooijdonk, the former Celtic and Nottingham Forest forward, tells NOS. “But, tonight, he was leading by example.”
Could this be a turning point in Van Dijk’s season? A return to his old self for a man one-time Premier League goalkeeper Ben Foster labelled ‘the best defender who has ever lived’ when at the peak of his powers a couple of seasons ago (Fozcast)?
Only time will tell, of course, ex-Liverpool ace Steve Nicol one of those who fears that Van Dijk’s superhuman qualities have waned since that Jordan Pickford lunge three years ago.
‘A large drop’
“Right now, this guy has gone from the most complete and confident centre-back in world football to, post-injury, being unsure. That really sounds simple, but it really sums him up,” Nicol tells ESPN.
“When you are in your prime. Your decision-making is spot on and your starting positions are spot on. And, for a centre-back, that’s what it’s all about.
“Since Virgil van Dijk has come back from his knee injury, he has been making decisions and his starting positions have been off. He has to play (his way) into confidence. That’s the only way he is going to do it. By playing and performing until he gets back to a position where he was before.
“But, as we speak, I am not 100 per cent sure he is going to do that because he has gone from the guy in charge to the guy who is looking for somebody else to help him. That’s a large drop from where he is.”
Interestingly, Liverpool do appear to be in the market for a long-term replacement. The agent of Bayer Leverkusen ace Piero Hincapie confirmed interest from the Merseyside giants recently.
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