Virgil van Dijk’s return to form has been one of the story’s of Liverpool’s season so far.
After a disappointing campaign last year, some had written Van Dijk off. But having assumed the Reds’ captaincy over the summer, the Dutchman has been completely reborn. He’s back to his old self again.
Perhaps most impressive is that Van Dijk has had to be brilliant alongside a number of different partners this term. All of Joel Matip, Jarell Quansah and Ibrahima Konate have played significant amounts of football. Virgil has been brilliant next to all of them.
And although his partnership with Konate looks like being one for the ages, pundit Ally McCoist has told TalkSPORT that a defender from a Premier League rival could make Van Dijk ‘unstoppable.’ Asked to pick a combined team from Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City, McCoist selected his dream centre-back duo.
“Me personally I think it’s Van Dijk and one other,” said the former striker. “I think he’s just about back to his best.
“My partner alongside Van Dijk, I’m going for Ruben Dias. I really, really like him. Listen, if you played [William] Saliba you wouldn’t have a problem with it, but we’re asked to pick a favourite team this season so far and I’m playing Dias along with Van Dijk which I think would be unstoppable.”
McCoist picks perfect partner for Van Dijk
At one stage – and maybe still to this day among City fans – there was a train of thought that Dias was actually better than Van Dijk.
The Portugal international is undoubtedly a very good defender. He won the FWA Footballer of the Year in 2020/21 and has been a bedrock of Man City’s success over the past four years.
However, it’s clear that he simply is not on Van Dijk’s level.
There’s a reason Liverpool’s captain is often included in debates about the best defender in the world. And even of all time. He really does belong in that conversation.
Whether you agree that Van Dijk is or is not on that exclusive list, no one has ever put Dias forward as a serious candidate for being there.
Nevertheless, McCoist’s claim is about a partnership. And with Van Dijk and Dias together, you’d imagine that little would be getting through.
Virgil would still need to be the more dominant of the two players, with the City man younger and still a rung or two below his Liverpool counterpart. But you could certainly see how the pair would work in tandem together.
In terms of a combined two from the Reds, City and Arsenal, we’d probably pick Dias, too. There is plenty of hype surrounding Arsenal’s pairing of Saliba and Gabriel, but we’re not convinced. Dias has a far better record of performing consistently at the highest level.
Whoever the choice is though, Van Dijk still comes out on top as the very best. And by the way, his current partner isn’t bad either. Put some respect on Ibou’s name.
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