Brighton striker Glenn Murray has praised the impact that Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has had at Anfield.
The veteran Seagulls frontman has first hand experience of how tough it is to come up against the Netherlands captain, and he believes Van Dijk’s leadership is a vital part of his success.
“He’s not too shabby, let’s put it that way,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “He’s a man mountain, to start with, he reads the game well.
“And you can just tell that he oozes confidence, but those around him as well. He’s always organising, getting people in position. Pulling maybe a few of the slightly younger boys around, like [Andrew] Robertson and [Trent] Alexander-Arnold next to him. I just think he’s been such a huge signing for them,” he finished.
"He's not too shabby! He's always organising those around him."#BHAFC striker @GM_83 describes playing against "man-mountain" Virgil Van Dijk.
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— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) December 14, 2018
OPINION
There cannot be anyone in football who believes Van Dijk wasn’t a colossally successfully signing for Liverpool. He has revolutionised the Reds backline and is one of the key reasons why they have conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League this season. He is calmness personified at the back and he has turned what was the weakest point of this Liverpool team into it’s ultimate strength. He must be a nightmare to play against, and that’s reflected in what Murray says here. It’s clear that the Brighton man has huge respect for the Dutchman, and for how he organises this Reds backline. Jurgen Klopp must be delighted with the former Southampton star because he has been even better than the German could have imagined. There’s no doubt that Van Dijk is the finest centre back in England, and one of the best in world football, and if you need to know how good he is just ask Murray.
