Liverpool broke the world transfer fee record for defenders in order to sign Virgil van Dijk, so you knew his Reds debut was going to be “a thing.” It turned out to be one of those rare major events that actually live up to the hype.
Van Dijk scored the game winning goal in the 84′ to win a Merseyside derby FA Cup third round clash.
“A fairytale,” that’s how Reds manager Jurgen Klopp described the Liverpool debut of the club’s record signing. It’s certainly apt, as Van Dijk helped lead his side to a 2-1 victory over arch-rival Everton in his very first outing. This truly lived up to the hype.
This was the stuff that dreams are made of.
“In a world with not a lot of fairytales anymore, I think something like that is quite special,” Klopp told his post match news conference. The German then admitted that he initially was not going to start the new arrival from Southampton.
“It was a difficult decision to make, to be honest, because the first plan was not to start him tonight. Dejan (Lovren) and Raggy (Ragnar Klavan) played a lot of games in the last few weeks, so I changed my mind this morning. It helped.”
“Obviously, it was a good idea in the end because the whole game was good. He showed a lot of the things we want him to show in the future very often: heading, football-wise, first touch.”
Throughout the season, the back line has certainly been the weakest link in an otherwise very strong Liverpool side. Reds defenders have often been mocked on social media, and made to be a punchline by football observers worldwide. The addition of Van Dijk adds instant credibility and a massive upgrade.
If the back line can mange to hold their own more, coupled with a high flying attack that is extremely entertaining to watch, Liverpool could really do some damage in 2018.
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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