Without a doubt Van Dijk is and has become the best defender in the Premier League and in Europe having almost single handily transforming our defence who were conceding goals to every team in the league to keeping 21 clean sheets in the Premier League during the 2018/19 season. Despite how much of an influence he is to Liverpool FC, the first month since his debut did not exactly go to plan, after becoming a hero in the Merseyside derby, Van Dijk picked up a hamstring strain which would rule him out against unbeaten at the time Manchester City at Anfield, his return a week later against Swansea was a welcoming sight but the same could not be said for the match as his inexplicit header broke the way to Swansea centre-back Alfie Mawson who finished from 8 yards out as Liverpool went on to lose the game 1-0. If that result and performance was bad enough, a week later Liverpool crashed out of the FA cup at home to West Bromwich Albion losing 3-2 at Anfield in what was a dreadful defensive display. Lastly to cap off what was a mixed January for Van Dijk, the Dutch centre halve was dropped 3 days later for the match away to Huddersfield, thankfully this time Liverpool won the game comfortably 3-0.
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Whilst it may not have been the start Van Dijk and Liverpool were hoping for, the indifferent form would not last long as the colossal defender was back into the starting line-up for the visit of Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield and he remained in the starting eleven for every game until the end of the season. Van Dijk’s defensive qualities were never in question hence the interest from Manchester City FC as well but the biggest question asked of him is that could he transform and lead the Liverpool FC defence which were leaking goals left right and centre prior to his arrival, to put it simply, yes.Van Dijk’s leadership and communication skills were something that Liverpool were severely lacking since Jamie Carragher’s retirement in 2013 and for the first time in 5 years Liverpool had that centre back who could be relied upon week in week out. So impressive his performances were, Liverpool surprised everyone by reaching the UEFA Champions League final unfortunately it wouldn’t be a fairy tale story for the club and Van Dijk as Liverpool suffered a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in Kiev.
Six months at the club and an excellent pre-season set up what was in the end an incredible 2018/19 season for Virgil Van Dijk. The defender accumulated 21 clean sheets as Liverpool’s defence improved with the development of Joe Gomez, Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold as well as, at the time, the world record signing of Alisson Becker for £67 million from AS Roma. Alisson’s arrival and the other players improving made a huge impact on Liverpool’s defence, but it cannot be stressed enough that without Van Dijk’s presence, leadership and defensive qualities the club would not have achieved what they did without the colossal Dutch centre-back.An immense season from Van Dijk saw him win the Premier League player of the month in December, the fans and players’ Liverpool player of the season, the Premier League Player of the season as well as, even more impressively, the PFA Player of the Year award as he achieved the prestigious award in May becoming the first defender since John Terry in 2005 to win the coveted prize. Individual rewards are an incredibly achievement even more so as no defender since 2005 won the PFA award, but none of those achievements will have pleased Van Dijk as much as winning the UEFA Champions League in June 2019 against Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid. To summarise what was a truly remarkable season for Van Dijk, the player was even named the UEFA Champions League Final man of the match, the UEFA mens Player of the Year award AND the UEFA defender of the year.
Casting back to that wonderful day in December 2017 in the space of less than two years Virgil Van Dijk went from being called “overpriced” by Newcastle legend and BBC sport pundit Alan Shearer to officially being the best player in the world. The Netherlands Captain has well and truly transformed Liverpool FC and to summarise this tribute to the colossal centre-back, everyone associated with Liverpool FC can only thank the centre-back for accomplishing what has been accomplished in the 20 months since his signing. This is just the start of Van Dijk’s supremacy at Liverpool and long may it reign.Article by Anish Dogra @Anish_Dogra 
