1 year ago
196 For the first time in a long time, Virgil van Dijk’s ability is being questioned.
The Dutchman has been labelled as one of the best defenders on the planet in recent years, but after a few shakey performances at club and international level, pundits and fans are starting to question the centre-half.
Speaking on Virgin Media Sport, Richard Dunne has been giving his verdict on Van Dijk during this international break, and he says that the £75m defender often plays in a very individualistic way, claiming that the defender is often pointing out other players’ errors rather than focusing on his own faults.
Selfish
Dunne gave his verdict on Van Dijk for the Netherlands.
“It has left them very weak defensively, as a team they don’t have the balance right at the moment. They won the game against Gibraltar, but against teams that are a similar level they have really struggled. You don’t want to pin it on certain players, but the captain of the team at centre-back, Van Dijk, is one of the players who highlights the problems in the side. He seems to be very individualistic, he’s always pointing at people, pointing out their errors and nobody is working on their errors,” Dunne said.
Step up
As much as we hate to say it, Dunne may be right about Van Dijk here.
When the Dutchman is playing at his best, he’s an incredible leader, but when he makes mistakes, he often shirks the blame. His reaction to his red card against Newcastle two weeks ago was bordering on unacceptable as he got in the referee’s face, while many will remember the dressing down Van Dijk received from James Milner vs Manchester United last year.
Leadership isn’t something we often question with Van Dijk, but when the chips are down, he doesn’t appear to be the best leader in the world.
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