Garth Crooks has written on BBC Sport that Mohamed Salah is not the best player at Liverpool, Virgil van Dijk is.
The former Tottenham Hotspur forward believes that the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) made a mistake in voting Liverpool forward Salah as the Footballer of the Year for 2022.
The BBC Sport pundit has explained why Netherlands international central defender Van Dijk is Liverpool’s best player, not Salah.
Garth Crooks on Liverpool duo Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah
Crooks wrote on BBC Sport: “It’s not often I disagree with the choice of the esteemed Football Writers’ Association but I was rather taken aback by their decision to award Mohamed Salah this year’s honour of Footballer of the Year. The Liverpool striker is a superstar – of that there is no doubt – and he has had an impressive goalscoring season.
“However, Liverpool’s best player and, in my view the Reds’ player of the season, is Virgil van Dijk. He should have won the award. Regular readers will not be surprised by my choice as the Liverpool defender features in my team almost on a weekly basis.
“That’s because Van Dijk is unquestionably the best defender in the world but he does not attract the same attention as Salah because it’s the Egyptian who scores the goals.
“I appreciate goal scorers better than anyone – my team of the week is often full of them. However this year the Football Writers’ Association has gone for the popular vote but not the right one.”
Important players
In our opinion, both Van Dijk and Salah are important players for Liverpool and are world class.
We think that the defender and the forward are equally important for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Salah’s goals have been helping Liverpool win trophies, and there is no doubt that he is a world-class footballer.
However, we cannot ignore what Van Dijk is doing at the other end.
The £240,000-a-week defender (SalarySport) is a Rolls Royce of a player who seems to just glide through games.
Van Dijk is one of the best central defenders in the world, and Liverpool would not be as good and solid a side as they are now without the Dutchman.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
