Liverpool youngster James Balagizi has hailed Virgil Van Dijk’s passing in training as being ‘just ridiculous.’
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo today, Balagizi spoke about the experience of training alongside some of Liverpool’s biggest stars.
“I used to watch clips of Thiago. I used to watch him when he was at Bayern Munich but now to think I can see what he’s doing in real life, I can’t put it into words how good it is to learn up close. Virgil van Dijk is so hard to get past, his passing range is just ridiculous. Like his passes, how is he able to get them on the money every time?!” enthused the 18-year-old.
“Thiago and Fabinho too, you try to press them and they beat it with a drop of the shoulder or a turn. It’s incredible. I’m just a normal kid who loves football and now I’m here with all these world-class superstars, it’s so unreal. But when you’re there you just have to compete the best you can. Of course, there’s still that element of idolisation, I’m a football fan as well as a footballer.”
Van Dijk still finding his range this season
Van Dijk’s passing range is part of what makes him the very best around in his position.
The Dutchman’s ability to ping cross-field passes the length of the pitch has been a key feature of Liverpool’s game under Jurgen Klopp.
With the emphasis on the full backs for attacking width, they know they can always rely on Virgil to pick them out.
His booming passes from left to right to Trent Alexander-Arnold have been the starting point for many goals over the years. The 31-year-old makes this look easy, but in reality, it’s far from it.
As Van Dijk stutters into the 2022/23 season, it isn’t just his top-notch defending that Liverpool are missing.
We’ve seen a little less of his pinpoint switches during the campaign’s opening act.
Although this isn’t his primary job for the team, it has all contributed to Liverpool struggling to get going. It’s no coincidence that Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah both look a little short of form without Van Dijk’s passes to collect.
Liverpool’s no.4 is too good to be kept down for long, though. You can trust that it won’t be long until we see him raking those long balls across the pitch at will. As for Balagizi, he needs to keep up the good form at Crawley Town. If he does, he’ll have a chance of seeing more of the Reds superstars up close in the future.
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