Liverpool’s long pursuit of Dutchman Virgil van Dijk is seemingly on its way to a conclusion as latest reports suggest that the player might finally be on the move to Merseyside.
With the deal nearing its completion, let us take a look at the SWOT analysis of Virgil van Dijk.
Strengths
Virgil van Dijk is the prime example of a modern-day centre back, which is why there has been a series of interest surrounding the Dutch International. Composed on the ball, and possessing an uncompromising nature of play, van Dijk’s playing style has drawn comparisons with Bayern’s Mats Hummels.
He is also very dominant in the air, something you’d expect from a man of his height and stature. He can be very intimidating for the opposition strikers. He had an incredibly efficient aerials duel won ratio of 75% last season, that’s more than several top defenders in Europe, including Mats Hummels, Sokratis amongst many others and definitely better than all of Liverpool’s centre backs.
Aerial duels are not the only thing he’s good at. Van Dijk is simply a defensive monster and averages an outstanding 10 defensive actions per game. Most of which, however, are clearances. He averaged seven clearances last season, which is just astonishing and proves his dogged and uncompromising nature of defensive play.
Van Dijk is like a hybrid of Mats Hummels and Sokratis. He is not afraid to go forward at regular intervals, and circulate the ball throughout the backline, to help his team’s build up game, but at the same time, he is arguably one of the best defenders in the league. He isn’t afraid to go into dangerous tackles, and his heading and physical prowess also make him a target during set pieces.
Weaknesses
Positioning might be one of the few significant weaknesses for the 26-year old. He can be very careless with his defensive positioning and is too eager to get into the action and he often leaves behind his initial defensive position in order to either press or make himself an option for ball circulation. This can be very dangerous, especially when the opposition becomes patient and waits for the right opportunity to pick the defence right apart.
Apart from his positioning sense, Van Dijk is not the most experienced guy when it comes to European competitions. Although with time, he may as well be.
Opportunity
Van Dijk doesn’t need to worry about game time as Liverpool will provide him a lot of that. He is expected to partner alongside Joel Matip in the centre of the defence. Jurgen Klopp has not been known as a great admirer of the three/five pendulating backlines, so that’s out of the question.
His departure will also mean the demotion of Ragnar Klavan as his hopes of getting into the starting eleven will be significantly decreased.
Threats
Liverpool are taking a huge gamble in spending such a huge amount on a centre-back, who has been consistent for merely two seasons. If the deal does happen, then he will become the most expensive defender in the history of football, meaning there will be massive expectations placed on the Dutchman. Even if he’s playing very well, fans will still expect more of him, solely because of his expensive price-tag, which could prove to be a problem for Van Dijk.
