After the performance against the Netherlands and France, did Liverpool’s star player Virgil Van Dijk continue to play poorly and permanently lose his aura of invincibility?

Liverpool star man Virgil van Dijk poor form continue after the match performance vs Netherlands vs France he lost his air of invincibility for good?

Virgil van Dijk in decline: Has the Liverpool and Netherlands star lost his air of invincibility for good?

The Dutch defender once dealt with world-class attackers with staggering ease, but he’s struggled to get back to his very best after a knee injury

Much of the build-up to the 2022 Champions League final focused on whether Liverpool could nullify the threat posed by Karim Benzema, who was already well on his way to winning the Ballon d’Or because of his goalscoring heroics in the knockout stage.

Michael Owen wasn’t unduly concerned for his former side, though. Why? Because Liverpool had Virgil van Dijk. “Benzema’s not as big as Van Dijk,” Owen told GOAL, “he’s not as strong as Van Dijk, and he’s not as quick as Van Dijk.”

And the ex-England international meant no disrespect to the Frenchman, whom he hailed as “a complete No.9”. It was more a reflection of how highly he rated Van Dijk. “He’s the best centre-half I’ve ever seen and I’ve played against some great centre-halves,” Owen confessed. “I would argue that you could put any defender in the history of the game against Van Dijk, and I’m not sure there’s a better one.

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“I mean, who’s better than him? I’ve only been on this planet 40 years but I’ve not seen anyone! At the minute, he might not go down as the game’s greatest ever centre-half, because people will say he’s not won everything or he’s not yet been at the top for like 20 years. But I struggle to see any fault in him.”

Doubts over Van Dijk’s greatness

Unfortunately, cracks have appeared in Van Dijk’s game over the past year – and some would argue they were even evident before last year’s Champions League final, going all the way back to the moment his knee buckled under the pressure of a horrific Jordan Pickford challenge in 2020. Before that, even legends like Franco Baresi were proclaiming Van Dijk the best defender in the world.

“He is the one who really stands out,” the Italian icon told FIFA, “[because he’s] shown the quality, character and strength that a defender needs to be a successful leader of a team like Liverpool.”

Things are different now, though. Certainty has given way to doubt. These days, Van Dijk going down as one of the game’s greats is no longer given.

Of course, comparisons to the likes of Paolo Maldini had always been ludicrous, an example of the tribalism and recency bias that plagues modern football fandom. Just to quickly put things in context, Van Dijk was still playing for Southampton at 26 years of age; by that stage of Maldini’s career, he had already won four Serie A titles and three European Cups with AC Milan, and picked up a World Cup runners-up’ medal with Italy.

A colossus at the peak of his powers

Still, Van Dijk at the peak of his powers really was quite something to behold. It was almost impossible to beat him in the air – or on the ground. At one point, more than a year passed before anyone managed to dribble past him in a game. For some dispirited players, there was no point in even trying. Better to give up and save face rather than be humiliated by the ease with which Van Dijk outpaced them before turning and coolly spraying the ball towards a team-mate.

He was almost universally revered by his peers, too. In 2019, the year in which Liverpool won the Champions League and finished second to Manchester City in an epic Premier League title race decided by a solitary point, Van Dijk was named PFA Players’ Player of the Year and also presented with UEFA’s Defender of the Season award. He also earned the first of three successive inclusions in UEFA’s Team of the Year.

But then came the injury.

From best in the world to a ‘bad place’

On October 17, 2020, Van Dijk was withdrawn just six minutes into the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park after being on the receiving end of a shocking challenge from Everton goalkeeper Pickford that wasn’t even deemed worthy of a yellow card – let alone the red it merited. Talk about adding insult to injury!

Van Dijk wouldn’t play again that season, and Liverpool collapsed without their defensive colossus, failing to win a single trophy after collecting four in the previous two years combined. Only a remarkable late-season rally saw the Reds qualify for the Champions League.

Those were dark days for Van Dijk. He spent countless hours in the gym working his way back to full fitness, but subsequently admitted that he had been in a “bad place” during his nine-month lay-off, understandably racked by doubts over whether he would return the same player.

In that sense, the 2021-22 campaign was a personal triumph for Van Dijk, who played a pivotal role in Liverpool’s brave bid for a historic quadruple after requiring “three or four months” to get back up to speed.

“I feel very good now,” he told Rio Ferdinand’s Between the Lines show ahead of that Champions League final with Madrid. “And the funny thing is I can get even better than I am now.”

Van Dijk, as Owen had predicted, had few issues with Benzema in Paris, but Liverpool lost a game that they had dominated to a solitary strike from Vinicius Jr. Neither Van Dijk nor Liverpool have really been the same since – and the Dutchman’s form hasn’t just become a cause for concern on Merseyside, either.

‘He makes noise but doesn’t say anything’

The difference is that while he remains idolised at Anfield, Van Dijk has come in for some fierce criticism over the past year in his native Netherlands. Ruud Gullit has accused him of both arrogance (without any hint of irony) and defending “passively” since his return from injury, insinuating that he is no longer fully committing to challenges. “Of course he can have a bad period,” the former forward told Ziggo Sport, “but he has to be a leader.”

But that’s a role to which Gullit’s fellow Dutch legend Marco van Basten does not believe that Van Dijk is suited. “He makes noise, but he doesn’t say anything,” the retired striker told Ziggo Sport. “He is not clear [in his instructions].

“A good captain thinks aloud, makes it clear what is going on, but Van Dijk just creates chaos. That leads to misunderstandings, which is what you, as a captain, are supposed to prevent.”

Again, Gullit agrees, arguing that if both Netherlands and Liverpool have problems at the back, “it is [Van Dijk’s] responsibility.”

From invincible to vulnerable

Certainly, as captain of the two teams, he must shoulder his share of the blame for defensive instability, and there is certainly no denying that Liverpool are once again conceding far too many goals.

The Reds have kept just one clean sheet so far this season and Van Dijk admitted that yet another back-line “miscommunication” was to blame for Brighton’s equaliser in last weekend’s 2-2 draw.

He wasn’t the one who had mistakenly thought he had heard a call from goalkeeper Alisson – the fault there lay with left-back Andy Robertson – and it’s also worth pointing out Liverpool have issues with their make-up of their midfield, and also should have brought in at least one centre-back during the summer.

However, there is an undeniable feeling that the defence has been brutally exposed in every sense; that Van Dijk has not only lost control of the backline he once marshalled so majestically – but also his own air of invincibility.

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‘I’d take Van Dijk’s place at the moment!’

It was certainly significant that after last season’s 5-2 drubbing at home to Real Madrid, Jamie Carragher, one of Van Dijk’s biggest fans, said on CBS Sports, “Van Dijk said I wouldn’t get in that back four about two months ago – but I think I’d take his place at the moment!..

“We keep talking about midfield players Liverpool need – and that’s right – but I think Liverpool need defenders as well. This Liverpool defence now – who we’ve been told for years have got some of the best players in the world – can’t cope.

“For years they’ve had a front six in front of them who’ve probably worked harder and smarter than any other team in world football. Now that’s gone, it’s completely fallen apart.”

Trent Alexander-Arnold is usually subjected to the most media scrutiny in that regard because of his alleged defensive deficiencies, but Van Dijk’s form also warrants attention – because the real fear now is that what he is experiencing is not just a blip, but a decline.

No sign of a return to form

Van Dijk has always been his own fiercest critic. He admitted himself that his form fluctuated as much as Liverpool’s last year, conceding that his campaign had been “up and down”. This season has started no better, though. There have been glimpses of the old Van Dijk but overshadowed by the kind of errors we’ve never previously seen from him.

In accepting full responsibility for the two-game suspension he stupidly accrued for reacting so angrily to his dismissal against Newcastle, he pointed out that it was the first red card of his Liverpool career and confessed that his frustration had got the better of him.

It was an admirable admission but one that only highlighted Van Dijk’s vulnerability. At his best, he never would have made such a clumsy challenge on Alexander Isak. Or been bullied by Aleksandar Mitrovic. Or being run ragged by Gabriel Jesus.

‘The best player in the league along with De Bruyne’

Some rival fans have been unsurprisingly quick to stick the boot in, now nonsensically claiming that Van Dijk was never that good in the first place, but as Carragher was quick to point out, “No centre-back in the Premier League era has ever had Van Dijk’s impact on a team.

“Never mind the best centre-back in the league, he’s been the best player in the league along with Kevin De Bruyne for four years before this one. We have never spoken about other centre-backs being the best player before – that shows the level he was at.”

In that sense, Van Dijk is a victim of his own success, held to higher standards than others simply because of the level of sustained excellence he had sustained. Only this week, Ibrahima Konate pointed out in an interview with Le Parisien that “there are very few defenders who have managed to have as good a career” as his Liverpool team-mate.

And that’s true: Van Dijk’s signing from Southampton in 2018 was the catalyst for one of the best periods in Liverpool’s history. The fear among fans, of course, is that it’s already drawn to a close.

The final, defining stage of Van Dijk’s career

Van Dijk is adamant that he can get back to his very best, though, both with Liverpool and Netherlands, who can take a massive step towards qualification for Euro 2024 by beating France in Amsterdam on Friday.

However, going up against Kylian Mbappe & Co. represents another tough test for Van Dijk and his leadership skills, given he and his compatriots were given an embarrassing run-around in a 4-0 loss in Paris in March.

Indeed, the remainder of this season – which heralds the beginning of the final stage of Van Dijk’s top-level career – will have a major bearing on how he will be remembered.

He’s never going to go down as the greatest defender of all-time, as Owen also acknowledged. But leading Liverpool or Netherlands to a major title triumph would at least give him a shot at being mentioned in the same breath as Maldini – and there is arguably no higher compliment than that for any defender.