It was always clear that Virgil van Dijk was a class above during his spell at Celtic, but many fans will still be surprised that he’s gone on to be one of the best in the world.
He was just so comfortable on the ball and there’s no better example than his goal at McDiarmid Park where he went for a stroll and beat the entire St Johnstone team before smashing one home, but it was always difficult to assess his defensive ability.
That’s no longer in doubt after he helped transform the Liverpool defence and is now widely regarded as one of the best defenders in the world,
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It sounds like it wasn’t always inevitable that it would end like this for the Dutchman, after Scott Brown talked about some of the work he had to do to improve during his spell in Glasgow.
Some of his comments to BBC Scotland were picked up by Empire of the Kop, and it’s interesting to hear:
“Virgil. Absolute Rolls Royce. He came and you knew he had quality but he just at the time didn’t look after himself as well as he probably should have done,”
“Neil had him in the gym, double sessions, and he lost about half a stone or three-quarters of a stone. “You just saw him slowly producing these quality results, pulling everyone together.”
“He pretty much held that back four together through thick and thin and you appreciate what he’s doing now because you see he’s the best defender in the world now.”
“He just goes up gears and I don’t think anyone beat him in a one-on-one in the English Premier League for about seventy-eighty games.”
There was never any real indication that he had a weight problem in his time up here and you always presume professional athletes will be in peak condition, so it shows that losing a bit of weight can still make a phenomenal difference at the top level.
It would be easy for a player to huff in that situation or take it personally, but the work he’s put in clearly made a big difference in getting him to where he is today.
INVINCIBLE by Matt Corr
The Celtic Star’s very own Matt Corr – who you may also know as a Tour Guide at Celtic Park – publishes his first Celtic book, titled INVINCIBLE – early next month. This beautiful hardback book will be the definitive story of Celtic’s magical2016-17 season – it truly is wonderful, a real joy to read, and brilliantly written by Matt.
If you have been reading Matt’s regular contributions on The Celtic Star or indeed in the Matchday Programme or in the Celtic View you will know just how talented a Celtic writer he is. The book is published by The Celtic Star and you can pre-order below.
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