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da betsul： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Vincent Kompany has administered very high praise upon Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk.
What did he say?
The former Manchester City captain is regarded by some as one of the greatest centre-backs to grace the Premier League and his 265 appearances and four title wins suggest he is up there with the very best.
By comparison, van Dijk has spent much of his Premier League career playing for a club outside the top-six, although his arrival at Anfield has coincided with a huge improvement in the Reds’ goal against statistics, with Liverpool keeping the most clean sheets in the league last season.
The Belgian was speaking in a pre-match press conference ahead of his testimonial on Wednesday, and was asked the question of how he would compare himself to the other great Premier League defenders.
As reported by The Sun, he said: “I would bring it back to Virgil van Dijk, he’s not been on the scene as long as [John] Terry and [Rio] Ferdinand who have been around for a long time but the signs he’s shown in the last years.
“He’s shown if he had been around longer he’d have been at the top for a long time. The Liverpool before Van Dijk and after are a completely different set-up. I’ll give him that one.”
Kompany’s comments suggest that he believes the Dutchman is one of the best defenders to play in the Premier League, indicating that the form he is showing now perhaps eclipses what he or other defenders have previously shown.
Premier League great?
Although he didn’t hold back in his praise of the 28-year-old, Kompany did infer that one factor which works against van Dijk is the fact he has been unable to play at the highest level.
With only 24 appearances in the Champions League, the Anderlecht player-manager is correct, but the Liverpool man is showing no signs of slowing down and it is possible that he will continue his impressive form for some time.
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Unlike Kompany, he has maintained his fitness throughout his career and has only sustained one injury which has ruled him out of a prolonged period, though the intensity of playing every game for the Reds could see fatigue set in.
Another negative which critics may point to is his lack of trophies. Last term he added the Champions League to the Scottish Premiership titles he won at Celtic but he still falls some way below the achievements of Terry, Ferdinand and Kompany, and may need to win the Premier League to convince some that he is an all-time Premier League great.
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