Virgil van Dijk | Roles and Responsibilities

Article by Jake Clay @JakeClay17Nobody’s perfect but in our head he is perfect.Liverpool’s number four has every attribute of a world-class centre-back. He’s imperious off the ball as well as majestic with it at his feet. every Premier League player knew he was that good that they voted him 2018/2019 PFA’s player of the season and was only pipped to the Ballon D’or by the GOAT that is Lionel Messi.Since his £75 million moves to Merseyside Virgil van Dijk has transformed Liverpool into the world, European and now Premier League champions they are today with his presence that many predicted he would add to Jurgen Klopp’s side.Intriguingly many thought the Dutchman’s leadership at the back that Liverpool craved for so long meant the captain’s armband was eventually going to follow. January 2018 was a time where there were still a lot of doubts of Jordan Henderson and even James Milner being the  leaders in the dressing room.Two and a half years since VVD’s arrival and the Dutch captain is a well-established figure of authority at Anfield, yet he has not been handed the captain’s armband that many predicted he would have by now.Even though Van Dijk is Liverpool’s third captain meaning that on the occasions that Milner and Henderson have both been out through being rested or injured everyone got the sight they prayed for with the 29-year-old slotting the armband around his arm.Van Dijk with the armband on is a thing of beauty, unfortunately it has also acted as an anchor in pulling down Liverpool’s level of performance.There is no doubt that Liverpool’s record signing is as commanding on the pitch as he is when being interviewed for Sky Sports but his Premier League record as the captain has left some concerning trends.For instance, Liverpool’s last game of their unbeaten run this season before being smashed by Watford was their 3-2 win against West Ham at Anfield.Yet with a 0.4 XG West Ham managed to score twice which means that Liverpool was not conceding goals from chances that were not expected to be scored, it’s been a similar story in the last two games with Burnley’s 0.7 XG and Arsenal’s 0.9 XG proving to be a concern to Jurgen Klopp.Therefore a defence that rightly has a record to be proud of has started giving the opposition a formula of converting the few times they can attack Liverpool’s backline in the last few games that have the common denominator of not being captained by Henderson.

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The backbone of this defensive unit has enough on his plate with making sure his high line is as accurate as possible as well as putting out fires around the pitch to stop the opposition from getting out.The responsibility of fulfilling all the captain’s duties is just added chores that VVD could do without as the Dutchman’s role is looking after his area of the pitch and letting his teammates thrive in front of him.This is not to say that Van Dijk is not captain’s material as he has to lead his country with the same class and dignity as he has applied at Liverpool but the set up is not the same way as his club plays. The Dutch way of playing with possession and counter attacks is a different ball game to how Liverpool suffocate their opponents with constant high energy pressing.Hence this is praise to Van Dijk’s ability to making the Red’s as fluent in their defending as they are passing the ball around the back but this requires his 100% concentration before and during the game.Henderson’s role of being the leader in the middle of the park allows him to thrive in conducting where everyone is supposed to be around the pitch which is evident in games when Liverpool’s captain is not there.The Arsenal game was a perfect example as with an XG of 2.6 the Reds needed to be more clinical on the night meaning that at times not everyone was in the position they should have been to finish off promising situations.When Henderson is not on the field then his team mates will naturally look at the next in command which is guaranteed to be Van Dijk who can’t tell Mo Salah to move five yards further out wide while looking out where Joe Gomez and his two full-backs are in relation to his defensive line.This may not seem the biggest issue now but calculating an XG goal total of 66 goals scored this season with Van Dijk as captain for the whole season, 23 less than Liverpool scored last season, reflects the importance of having Liverpool captain’s in the middle of the park while their captain without the title does his job at the back.Liverpool’s colossal at the back is still without a doubt the pillar that holds this team together but that does not mean he needs an armband to prove it.Article by Jake Clay – @JakeClay17