Virgil van Dijk, the man crowned the world’s most expensive defender in history this past January, was met with a strong chorus of boos as he made his first return to St. Mary’s since he made his £75 million move from Southampton to Liverpool. VVD is thought to have forced through his move from the south coast club to Anfield, and the very protracted transfer saga certainly had its share of ugly moments.
With Saints now struggling to avoid relegation, and Liverpool battling Manchester United for second place, many Southampton supporters have vitriol for Van Dijk. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp thinks that the Dutchman handled the jeering quite well.
“He did really well, he dealt with the situation fantastically,” Jurgen Klopp said after the Reds’ 2-0 away win.
“We had a little talk before the game and I asked: ‘What do you think?’ He said: ‘No, I’m fine boss.’ I don’t want to make him nervous if he isn’t nervous and, obviously, he wasn’t and that’s good.”
“I understand everything in football; the crowd is there to make life difficult for the opponent but I think it was not too difficult for him from this point of view and I’m happy about it.”
Van Dijk said after the game that he had a good day, he enjoyed the booing, and that the fans probably don’t know the whole story.
For VVD, it was also his first Premier League win as a member of Liverpool.
The win elevated the Reds to third place, and they sit two points away from both third and second place. For Southampton, they are now in the final drop zone slot, but just a single point from safety.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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