We all know how good Virgil van Dijk is and perhaps the best illustration of this is when opposition teams make a special effort to stop him playing his game.
This has been true from before his time at Liverpool too, with ex-Red David Raven speaking about how Inverness Caledonian Thistle planned for games against our captain.
Speaking on ‘The Football Historian Podcast‘, the 39-year-old said: “Virgil Van Dijk was playing for Celtic so [John Hughes, Inverness manager] was like, ‘Stamp on his feet, elbow him, do whatever you can’ because he was a Rolls-Royce, as he still is.”
This game in question was the William Hill Scottish Cup semi final in 2015 and seeing as Celtic went on to lose the match thanks to an extra time winner from our former academy graduate – the plan worked.
Even as a 23-year-old then, it was clear to everyone just how impressive our No.4 was and he even opened the scoring on what was ultimately a disappointing day.
Virgil van Dijk was left disappointed after losing the semi final
The 33-year-old is now certainly equipped to deal with the physical side of the game, something his time in Scotland has no doubt helped him with.
Seeing his reaction to Pau Torres rolling around on the floor at Anfield showed that he doesn’t have much time for those who overreact when caught in a collision on the pitch, probably caused after never doing it himself even when on the end of this treatment.
Our skipper is such an inspiration on and off the field today that it’s almost hard imagining him ever playing for another club away from Merseyside.
Given the lack of a new deal being agreed for him though, it may not be too long until we see him wearing the colours of another side.
Listening to the recent comments from the captain of the Netherlands though, we may not have to wait too long to see him agree a new contract – we hope.
You can watch Raven’s comments on Van Dijk (from 32:26) via The Football Historian Podcast on YouTube:
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