Virgil Van Dijk Archives ⋆ Page 5 of 5 ⋆ LSU

Apr182019 by JBNo Comments

Van Dijk reveals how Liverpool will stop Lionel Messi after Porto win

Virgil van Dijk believes Liverpool must defend ‘together’ as a unit against Lionel Messi when they fight Barcelona for a place in this year’s Champions League final. Liverpool sealed their spot in the final four with a 6-1 aggregate win over Porto on Wednesday after Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Van Dijk all got a goal each in a one-sided second leg. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The Reds face Barcelona for the first leg of a scintillating semi-final this month and come up against Messi who is currently in the form of his life. Messi produced an outstanding performance on Tuesday, inspiring Barcelona to a 4-0 aggregate win over Manchester United with a brace at the Nou Camp. Asked how he plans to stop Messi after Liverpool’s de...

Mar312019 by JBNo Comments

Liverpool give update on Van Dijk ankle injury

Premier League

Jürgen Klopp is hopeful on Virgil van Dijk’s fitness after the defender sustained an injury late on during Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Tottenham. Van Dijk collided with Moussa Sissoko while successfully defending a two-on-one Tottenham counter-attack in the 85th minute of Sunday’s gane at Anfield. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The Reds went on to win the match in dramatic circumstances, courtesy of Toby Alderweireld’s last-minute own goal at the very end. When asked about the condition of Van Dijk during his post-match press conference, Klopp said: “We have to see. I asked him and I think it was in the counter-attack situation when Sissoko hit him… I don’t know if he twisted it or it is a knock. “He was walking to the interviews with a big ice pack. I...

Feb232019 by JBNo Comments

Vidic: ‘Phil Jones is better than Van Dijk’

Premier League

Nemanja Vidic said he would not swap any of Manchester United's defenders for Virgil van Dijk or his Liverpool team-mates, while praising Victor Lindelof. United led the Premier League with 19 clean sheets in 2017-18 yet their goal has been breached in all but six of their 26 matches this season. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Despite that, Lindelof has been praised as one of United's better performers, the 24-year-old has established himself at the heart of the club's defence after a poor first campaign at United. "I think [Lindelof] had a difficult time in the beginning," Vidic told Omnisport . "Well done to him to come back. It's not easy, especially playing for Man United, big club, to not start that well and have criticism from the media. "T...

Dec312018 by JBNo Comments

Virgil van Dijk breaks silence on tunnel bust-up with Sokratis

Premier League

Virgil van Dijk insists he will always be entitled defend his team-mates after getting into a bust-up with Arsenal defender Sokratis during Liverpool’s match with Arsenal on Saturday. Sokratis was confronting Mohamed Salah in the tunnel at half-time after the Liverpool forward won a penalty to ensure Arsenal were behind 4-1 at the break. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Arsenal’s players accused Salah of diving and Sokratis was still having a go at the Egyptian when Van Dijk stepped in. Sokratis and Van Dijk were pulled apart from one another, but the defender played down the incident. ‘I saw that he went to Mo (Salah) and was saying that he dived,’ Van Dijk said. ‘He was attacking him a bit, but I wanted to say he didn’t dive. ‘Obviously everyo...

Dec242018 by JBNo Comments

Why Arsenal rejected the chance to sign Virgil van Dijk for just £12m

Premier League, Transfer Info

Arsenal were given the chance to sign Virgil van Dijk for just £12million but rejected him over fears he was ‘too nonchalant’ for the Premier League. The Liverpool centre-back has now established himself as arguably the best centre-back in England after his record £75m transfer to Anfield last January. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); But plenty of clubs passed up the opportunity to sign him when he was at Celtic before Southampton finally signed him, and the Scottish champions’ former assistant manager says Arsenal were chief among them. ‘Arsenal’s chief scout [Steve Rowley] thought he was too nonchalant,’ John Collins told beIN Sport. ‘Maybe that was part of his game but he ticks so many of the other boxes. ‘He’s got pace, power, balance, distrib...

Dec122018 by JBNo Comments

Ancelotti: Van Dijk deserved red for Mertens tackle

Premier League, Seria A

Napoli boss Carlo Ancelotti believes VAR would have shown Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk a red card for his challenge on Dries Mertens in their key Champions League encounter on Tuesday. Van Dijk was shown just a yellow for his first-half tackle, with Liverpool going on to edge Napoli 1-0 and qualify for the next round at the Italian club's expense. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The booking means Van Dijk will miss the first game of the knockout phase in January, but Ancelotti was left bemoaning the lack of VAR with Napoli now set for Europa League football in the New Year. "From the video it is a red card. There are a lot of questions about VAR but when VAR comes in the Champions League it will be too late," Ancelotti said. Virgil van Dijk...

Nov192018 by JBNo Comments

Virgil van Dijk aims dig at Sergio Ramos

Premier League, La Liga

Virgil van Dijk has talked on Dejan Lovren's feud with Sergio Ramos, describing the Real Madrid captain as "not my type of defender". Lovren mocked Ramos in the lead up to Croatia's Nations League win over Spain on Thursday, saying the Madrid defender is made to look better by team-mates, and took another dig after the match. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The Liverpool defender was filmed in an Instagram video calling Ramos and the Spain squad "p******", before uploading a picture of himself beating Ramos in an aerial duel. Ramos had attempted to defuse the row in a pre-match news conference, claiming he had no interest in responding to the initial criticism, but Lovren said Luis Enrique's side lacked class in defeat. Van Dijk now appears to have t...

Oct12018 by JBNo Comments

Virgil van Dijk: Any Liverpool player who doesn’t like Klopp’s rotation system should leave

Premier League

Virgil van Dijk has said Liverpool’s players can cope with manager Jurgen Klopp’s ruthless squad rotation, conceding the only alternative would be to exit the club. Klopp has made a several changes throughout Liverpool’s unbeaten start to the campaign, which, even though the winning run came to an end, was extended to seven Premier League matches with a 1-1 draw at Chelsea. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Daniel Sturridge showed the strength in depth Klopp now has by scoring an outstanding late equaliser, which cancelled out Eden Hazard’s goal. The striker had been sent on to replace James Milner after Klopp had made two other changes by replacing captain Jordan Henderson with Naby Keita and sending on Xherdan Shaqiri to take over from Mohamed Salah. ...

Sep222018 by JBNo Comments

Jurgen Klopp provides update on Van Dijk injury

Premier League

Virgil Van Dijk was unable to continue the game and had to be subbed off four minutes later, with Joe Gomez coming on to replace him. However, Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp expressed his confidence that the injury is unlikely to keep the influential defender on the sidelines for long. “He already had a bruise in the ribs before the PSG game, which is very uncomfortable and today he got another hit there," said Klopp. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); “It’s not cool but should not be too serious. "He said he couldn’t shout anymore, so that’s obviously 60 per cent less of his level! "It should be absolutely OK, hopefully. I didn’t hear anything different." Van Dijk was later seen on the bench in the second half rather than receiving treatment in ...