‘Van Dijk’s the leader, he speaks and pushes his team-mates on, he cajoles them. He and Alan Hansen are the two best centre-backs of the last 30 years.’ says John Barnes
DAILY STAR SUNDAY, June 21, 2020
FOR Liverpool supporters, they are the team that will always have a special place in history.
The 2020 vintage will be remembered as the one that ended a 30-year drought, delivering the sweetest taste of all.
Anfield will soon be the home of the English champions once again – for the 19th time – and those who have made it happen will go down in legend on Merseyside.
Steven Gerrard, their talismanic former captain – who came so close to delivering the Premier League in 2014 before his infamous untimely slip – reckons boss Jurgen Klopp should now be honoured with a statue alongside Bill Shankly’s for delivering the success so many before him were unable to.
Manchester City’s 3-0 victory over Arsenal on Wednesday night means the title cannot be secured with a win against Everton at Goodison Park today
– but that only delayed the inevitable. Liverpool will be champions and their players lionised by a generation of grateful followers.
The Covid-19 pandemic means it will be achieved in the strangest of circumstances – behind closed doors, without fanfare and, truthfully, the same sense of authenticity that celebrating in front of a raucous Anfield would bring.
Nevertheless, the Kop will hail them all, celebrate them all and no doubt dedicate flags to them all.
They have no favourites – but John Barnes does. “Virgil van Dijk and
Roberto Firmino have everything needed to deal with playing in different eras,” said the Liverpool icon.
“They have the physicality and the strength, as well as their natural ability, to cope with the challenges that were there in the 80s.
“Both could deal with whatever is thrown at them and they are the two I would pick to play with.”
And Barnes insists the £75million signing of Van Dijk was the game-changer needed to take Liverpool to the next level.
He said: “Van Dijk’s the leader, he speaks and pushes his team-mates on, he cajoles them. He and Alan Hansen are the two best centre-backs of the last 30 years. Sami Hyypia was great too but in my time they (Van Dijk and Hansen) would be the best pairing.
“Van Dijk was a crucial signing. If you look at Joel Matip, Dejan Lovren, Joe Gomez, when they play together they haven’t done as well.
“But when they are alongside Van Dijk they have shown how good they really are.
“They needed that presence, that calming influence and physicality in the box because whenever a ball came in and Van Dijk wasn’t there, the crowd got nervous.
“Every corner and set-piece the