Manchester City defender Nathan Ake has praised the leadership qualities of Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk.
Van Dijk and Ake are teammates in the Netherlands national team, with the Liverpool man captaining the side. And with Virgil coming in for some heavy criticism following the latest international break, Ake has leapt to his defence.
“Virgil is a leader for the Dutch national team and for Liverpool – and I mean a real leader,” City’s £40m man said via The Mirror. “What he has achieved is massive. On top of that, he is a very big personality.”
Remarkably, there have been calls this week for Van Dijk to be stripped of the captaincy of his country. However, Ake believes these critics are massively underestimating the 31-year-old’s impact.
“Apparently, people don’t see how important Virgil is for us on and off the pitch. We couldn’t wish for a better captain and a bigger player in the national team,” he said.
Virgil causes a storm in his homeland
Van Dijk’s performances for the Oranje seem to have been a huge talking point in the Netherlands over the last week. After a 4-0 defeat to France last Thursday, the knives really came out.
In many ways, that’s absolutely unfair on Virgil. As Ake points out, he’s by far the best man for the job. With those around him either inexperienced or not quite good enough, Liverpool’s No.4 can’t do it all by himself. This isn’t a vintage Dutch side.
But as much as the instinct is to hit back at critics like Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten, it’s hard to argue that they don’t have a point.
As a captain, Virgil is perhaps as passive as they come. He’s well capable of bellowing instructions and organising play, as we’ve seen him do many times at Liverpool. But when the going gets tough you are just left wanting a little more from him.
It was a similar story in the Reds’ last Premier League game – away at Bournemouth. Van Dijk was captain that day and didn’t exactly cover himself in glory doing the job.
In truth, the big man has found the going tough throughout the whole season. There’s no question in our mind that he’s still the best in the business and will soon show that once again. But for now, it’s fair to demand a little more from him. For club and country.
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