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Virgil van Dijk's colossal display shows his worth can't be measured in personal awards


Were you watching, Lionel Messi?

Absolutely not, no. But the brilliant Barcelona star did come to mind during Liverpool’s wet, windy, workmanlike and in the end wildly fortuitous 1-0 win at Sheffield United on Saturday .

Jurgen Klopp’s side were never allowed to get going by Chris Wilder’s impressive team, whose first half refusal to break out of a compact shape made it incredibly difficult for Liverpool to do the things that make them tick.

They were forced back for most of a disjointed first half, relying only on long balls and the occasional slip from the home defence.

When that happened, though, it was left to the man Messi thinks is currently the best footballer on the planet to deliver in front of goal, and he didn’t.

Mane misfired in front of goal

 

Sadio Mane – the recipient of the No.1 spot in Messi’s vote at last week’s FIFA Best Awards – twice fluffed his lines when presented with glorious chances to score in the first half.

With him misfiring, Roberto Firmino crowded out and Mohamed Salah wearing the look of a man who wasn’t exactly enjoying his first rainy outing in Sheffield, an afternoon that always carried the threat of a tricky one subsequently became exactly that.

But when your attack isn’t flourishing it is up to your defence to bail you out, and in Virgil van Dijk Liverpool have one of the very best.

Van Dijk was excellent for Liverpool

 

Not ‘The Best’ of course, Messi took that award on Monday , but here was another example of how while the forwards might always be in the mix for individual awards, it is the defenders who keep you on track for the team prizes.

No-one would ever overly criticise him, but it had been possible to detect a slight dip in Van Dijk’s displays this season if you looked hard enough.

The Dutchman dealt with the Blades’ threat superbly

 

He got dribbled past by Nicolas Pepe of course – however tedious that stat had become – while there was that mistake late on at Napoli, and an increase in people noticing the performances of the previously unsung Joel Matip at the heart the Liverpool defence. Van Dijk was being outshone.

At Bramall Lane though, he was a colossus.

The centre-back was the solid foundation on which Liverpool’s win, or rather their clean sheet, was based.

Van Dijk missed out on the FIFA award to Messi

 

Time and again he went up against the impressive Oli McBurnie and nicked the ball away, either via a clever flick of the foot or a towering header.

And it wasn’t just on the ball that he impressed.

As they failed to click going forward, each and every Liverpool player was greeted by a trademark Van Dijk stare at some point – the sort of thing that would chill you to bones and remind you that you weren’t just letting yourself down, you were letting him down too.

Van Dijk again proved his worth

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Dean Henderson’s moment of misfortune ended up giving Liverpool the win, but it wouldn’t have been possible without Van Dijk’s display.

Despite Messi’s Milan triumph the Dutchman remains the favourite for the Ballon d’Or at the end of the year, when a win would be seen as a triumph for the players who do the digging in at the back over the stars in attack.

He certainly did that here, as a personal performance was the bedrock of a team triumph.

And they’re always the most important ones.





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