Virgil Van Dijk

Player ratings as the Reds go all 2013-14 on us

I've got a good friend who supports Crystal Palace. If I didn't, I'd be doing rain dances in the garden in the hope they get relegated. Never mind the owl that manages them, they're actually an alright club. Passionate fans, decent football, the legend that is Mamadou Sakho. I just can't hack playing them, I'm...

Liverpool’s Defence Is More Than VVD and Alisson

It’s true that Virgil Van Dijk is the best centre-back in the league. It’s true that his impact on this Liverpool team has been absolutely tremendous, and it’s true that his signing is one of the best that Liverpool have made in years. Likewise, it’s true that buying Alisson Becker was an absolutely crucial piece...

Dejan Lovren’s deja vu

For many, Liverpool’s defeat to Manchester City must’ve felt like a rerun of a movie you’d seen plenty of times throughout the years. A midfield three lacking creativity, picked solely for their energy and experience of the system being deployed, was swarmed by counterparts possessing superior quality both on and off of the ball....

Player Ratings as City beat Liverpool to close the gap

Lots of talk about City’s injuries in the last few weeks and the difference there was that the Reds missed key defenders, whilst the hosts had Fernandinho back to deliver a Man of the Match performance. Liverpool have played better and worse his season, they’ll walk away rueing a potential Kompany red and the introduction...

V for Van Dijk: One Man’s Stand Against the Establishment

TURF MOOR, Burnley: The game poised at one all after the Clarets took an early lead. Liverpool have earned themselves a freekick in an odd position. Too far out to shoot, too close to the centre of the pitch to fire in a cross with any true potential for damage. Or so one would...

Wolves 0-2 Liverpool: Who was man of the match?

With each game that passes, this Liverpool team look increasingly like potential champions. They were well below par at times against a Wolves side which has taken points off four of the Premier League's 'big six', but still they ran out victorious with relative ease. The Reds wobbled after Mohamed Salah's deft opener, repeatedly conceding...

Liverpool 3-1 Manchester United: Who Was Man Of The Match?

The Liverpool of old may well have been held to an agonising draw after being pegged back in such disheartening circumstances, but this side were in no mood to hand Manchester United a point they simply didn't deserve. Liverpool had raced out of the blocks and had Mourinho's men on the ropes. Sadio Mane's delightful...

Destiny Defying Alisson Writes His Own Script

You could write the script. It really was that predictable. Liverpool had been banging on the door all night, creating a good chance after good chance against a Napoli side that was there for the taking. Even as the time ticked away and it became abundantly clear that Liverpool’s only chance of going through...

Player ratings as Liverpool upset Ancelotti again

Carlo Ancelotti's rivalry with Liverpool would make a bloody good film, wouldn't it? Istanbul, Athens, his La Decima winning Madrid team at Anfield in 2013, and now Anfield for Liverpool 1-0 Napoli in 2018. A hair raising night, made a brilliant one by a man with the most beautiful head of hair, Alisson Becker. The Reds...

How well is Jurgen Klopp rotating his Liverpool squad?

No Salah, no Firmino and no Mane. The seven changes Jurgen Klopp made to his starting eleven at Turf Moor raised a considerable number of eyebrows last Wednesday, not least from myself. But subsequently, having collected six points from two potentially tough away fixtures against Burnley and Bournemouth, as part of a gruelling festive...