Garth Crooks believes teams still don’t respect Virgil van Dijk enough

Add as preferred source on Google

Garth Crooks believes teams still underestimate just how threatening Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk is. The Dutchman scored vs Crystal Palace.

Liverpool raced to a 2-0 lead on Sunday as they dominated Crystal Palace for the opening 35 minutes. While their were doubts over their second goal (Roberto Firmino appeared to be offside) there were none over the first.

Virgil van Dijk did the damage, meeting an Andy Robertson corner for 1-0. It was a sign, says Garth Crooks, that teams will don’t understand just how good he is from set-pieces.

Crooks hails Virgil van Dijk for Liverpool vs Crystal Palace

“When are teams going to take note?” he wrote for the BBC. “I’m saying almost on a weekly basis that Virgil van Dijk is the most dangerous player in the box on set pieces but sides are still conceding goals against him.

“His header that put Liverpool one up against Crystal Palace was emphatic.”

The problem for Palace on this one was that they went for man-to-man marking. Van Dijk was able to slip his man fairly easily, giving him an unchallenged header that he made to look routine. It’s not exactly the way we’d choose to mark the Dutchman on corners, certainly.

Crooks talked this up in his Team of the Week column and honestly, we’re a little surprised at Van Dijk’s inclusion. Yes, he had a goal but his defending wasn’t up to his usual standards. In fact, Jurgen Klopp called Liverpool’s last line ‘sloppy’ after the game, given Palace created so much in that second half.

Van Dijk, along with the rest of the defence, was caught out badly for Palace’s goal. Liverpool’s press failed, allowing a fairly simple pass to slice open the entire back four.

That wasn’t up to Van Dijk’s usual standards – the highest standards in the world, of course. So despite the goal, we’d actually call this a rare off-day for the 30-year-old.