Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock has labelled Reds centre half Virgil van Dijk ‘the best defender in the world’ after his performance against Everton on Sunday.
The former Southampton man was in virtuoso form as Jurgen Klopp’s team laboured to a goalless draw with their fierce rivals. And Warnock saw enough from the Dutchman to make some rather large proclamations.
“His positional sense is incredible, he always looks in control of every situation,” he told the Football Daily podcast [03/03; 9:50]. “He’s always in control of the situation, knows where to position himself.
“I’m a Liverpool fan and I watch them quite a lot at the moment. For me, he is the best defender in the world at this moment in time. The way his body positioning is, everything about him, he’s almost the perfect defender.”
OPINION
Can anyone disagree with Warnock’s viewpoint at the moment? Maybe a few Manchester United and Everton fans, but even they have to concede that Van Dijk is a supremely gifted centre back. He was already a tremendous defender when he joined Liverpool, but he is now undoubtedly one of the world’s best. Is he the very best defender in world football, though? It’s hard to argue he’s not. Who could be considered better than him at this moment in time? In the past you’ve had defenders like Mats Hummels, Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique, but they are all past their best. Even someone like Raphael Varane cannot match Van Dijk’s form over the past year or so. His only real competition is the likes of Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte and Juventus’ Georgio Chiellini. Still, though, on current form you surely have got to pick Van Dijk over them all – he’s been that good this season.
