Why didn’t United push for Van Dijk?
IT WAS a small moment, barely six minutes into the game, but it was a perfect demonstration of his authority. With Crystal Palace trying to get an early foothold in the contest, a ball was hoisted in the direction of Christian Benteke. The Belgian’s time at Liverpool was bitterly disappointing but he has a habit of scoring goals against them.
But before the striker could begin to think about jumping, Virgil van Dijk manoeuvred himself into position. He placed his arm on Benteke’s back, rolled his shoulders forward and applied some leverage. Benteke couldn’t move and Palace’s moment was gone.
That is the thing about Van Dijk. Everyone talks about him being a great defender because of his hulking size and physical strength but it’s the little things that he does so well: his timing, his reading of the game — how often do you see him in a position where he needs to make a sliding tackle?
There is a reason Jurgen Klopp was happy for Liverpool to obliterate their transfer record to sign Van Dijk and it was for nights such as these, when the atmosphere is intimidating and the stakes are high. This when you want leaders to emerge and provide guidance and this is what Van Dijk does.
To see him banging his hands together at Liverpool’s midfielders, imploring them to keep their mind on the job, or sweeping balls out to the right flank for Trent Alexander Arnold to scuttle after, you saw a player in complete control.
What Liverpool would have done to have someone like Van Dijk the last time they played at Selhurst Park on a Monday night. That, of course, was in May 2014 when their implosion in the final frenzied 20 minutes led to the disintegration of their title ambitions.
Back then, Van Dijk was finishing his first season with Celtic, deemed not good enough by English scouts, who had previously watched him in Groningen.
You had to think about that night when saw Mamadou Sakho, tap dancing his way through this match. He played that fateful evening, when a 3-0 lead turned into a 3-3 draw — it was a match that illustrated Liverpool would never seriously challenge for honours if they remained so porous.
Klopp bounced the Frenchman out of Anfield two years ago for a number of reasons, the foremost being he simply wasn’t up to the task of playing for Liverpool.
Sakho wins popularity because he makes a high percentage of lastditch tackles but they are tackles he needs to make because he is normally out of position. He is prone to moments of impetuosity, too, as he showed when having two attempts to chop Mohamed Salah down for a penalty.
There were other eye-catching performances in Liverpool’s defence here, such as Joe Gomez — Van Dijk’s partner in the middle — and Alisson, the No 1 whose handling was assured and his ability to set Liverpool on their way with quick counter-attacks was crisp.
But it was Van Dijk who stood out and that led to another question: what would Manchester United do to have a player like him? He is, after all, everything that Jose Mourinho wants in his back four. Why did they not push Southampton when everyone else was knocking?
Manchester City were in for Van Dijk. Chelsea and Arsenal too. It transpires that United made an enquiry last Christmas.
They wanted to know the terms of his deal last December but, as is typical of that club now, the question was asked on the day Van Dijk was undergoing his medical at Anfield. By then it was too late. United’s loss is most definitely Liverpool’s gain.