Former Liverpool player Dirk Kuyt heaped praise on defender Virgil van Dijk and shared that he thought he was the type of player who had his own style.
The 38-year-old, who played over 200 times for the Reds, implied that he thought his fellow Dutchman was the best defender in the world currently as he couldn’t think of a better one to name.
Kuyt then claimed that he thought Van Dijk possessed a rare mental skill that not many players have, as he pointed out that he is able to get instantly over making a mistake and used the player’s recent error against Fulham to prove his point.
“Virgil is the type of player who has his own style. Very classy and a real confident player. Every human sometimes makes small mistakes,” said Kuyt, as quoted by the Daily Star.
“But what was very special to me was that after the mistake against Fulham, he just kept playing. He got straight back to his level and that’s a great mental skill.
“Not many players have that. With Virgil, it doesn’t matter if he scores the winning goal or makes a mistake, he’s always the same kind of player.
“He’s playing at a high level in the Premier League so every week he’s playing against the best strikers in the world. That makes him an even better player.
“He’s the kind of person who still wants to become a better player and he’s a great character. Defensively, I can’t name any better defender in the world at the moment.”
OPINION
While it’s not surprising to discover that Kuyt is in awe of how good Van Dijk is, his remarks are an intriguing read. So many pundits and ex-players are quick to praise the Reds’ centre-back due to him being in superb form this season, but few highlight his mental strength. Van Dijk made a rare mistake against Fulham which led to Ryan Babel scoring, but by the time the goal was being replayed on the screen, he had gotten over it. Loads of players have a tendency to let errors play on their mind and effect their display, but the Reds defender didn’t even let it ruin the rest of his game. This mental strength that Van Dijk clearly has will serve the player well during his career, and will no doubt help him deal with the pressure of playing for a demanding side like Liverpool. There is a lot of pressure on the centre-back to help Jurgen Klopp’s side rack up some silverware this season, yet based on Kuyt’s remarks, it won’t faze him.
