Defenders don’t tend to get the same plaudits as attacking players, but Virgil van Dijk is a bit of a different case after a truly outstanding season for Liverpool.
And he showed his quality in action for the Netherlands last night as well, with this superbly intelligent piece of play to deny what looked a great scoring opportunity for Manchester City’s Leroy Sane.
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This play won't make headlines but VVD is the best in the world at making a controlled recovery. He doesn't overpursue here and lunge in, committing a foul or losing balance to let Sane past. He makes something that is very difficult, look remarkably simple. pic.twitter.com/wraKJpeWQw
— Josh SchneiderWeiler (@schneiderweiler) March 25, 2019
Watch the video above as Van Dijk makes a speedy recovery to get right into Sane’s path and block the way through to goal despite him looking in the clear just seconds earlier.
It’s moments like this that show why the Reds ace could really be PFA Player of the Year material…
