How important is Van Dijk for Liverpool? – NRK Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule

That was the last thing that would happen to Jürgen Klopp.

On Saturday, Virgil van Dijk left the field against Everton with what was to result in a cruciate ligament injury. These injuries usually take about eight months to heal.

The 29-year-old may well be out for the rest of the season.

Few doubt that Liverpool will miss the best midfielder in the world. At the same time, it is difficult to say exactly where will be greatly missed.

When tips are damaged, we can measure the loss in numbers and statistics.

When the plugs are damaged, the process is much more complicated.

He hardly ever tackles

The reason is that the points and the wings contribute things that can be counted. They create chances, shoot, score and set goals.

Analysts can create formulas that measure the quality Y value at each of these events.

In other words, the value of a tip can be largely summed up with a couple of numbers.

Another simple way to do this is to observe what a striker usually brings to the team. For example, Mohamed Salah delivers between 20 and 25 goals and around 10 scorers per league season. If he is injured, Liverpool will miss these contributions.

Even the performance of defensive midfielders can be measured by the number of tackles, the accuracy of passing, and the like. The sides can be judged by posts and opportunities created.

But the same does not apply to plugs.

Some statistics is important: how often they win their head duels, how often they hit passes. But these categories can also be misleading.

One would think, for example, that the best plugs tend to cover. Van Dijk almost never tackles, because he’s fast enough to run over opponents without risking a free throw. That’s one of the reasons he only has four yellow cards in 95 league games for the Reds.

Things like positioning, communication, and game reading don’t show up in the stats either.

So how can we judge Van Dijk’s worth?

The Chief of Defense

The first is to see how Liverpool has played with Van Dijk in the team.

It’s easy to forget that defense has long been Klopp’s biggest problem. In autumn 2017, Liverpool conceded 16 goals in the first nine league games, the highest number ever at that stage of the season since 1964/65.

Then in December they bought Van Dijk. In his first 20 league games, he conceded 12 goals.

Since then, the Dutchman has played two full seasons at Anfield. Liverpool have delivered two of the best league seasons in the history of the Premier League, with 97 and 99 points. He has reached two Champions League finals and won one of them.

During this period, Van Dijk has started 93 league matches in a row. Of the many factors that have made Liverpool one of the best teams in the world, including the acquisitions of Alisson and Fabinho, Van Dijk has been the most important.

Van Dijk’s abilities affect more parts of the game than you might think. One of the most obvious is dead balls.

Corners and free kicks have been a big part of Liverpool’s success, and Klopp is so obsessed with it that he has hired his own throw-in specialist. The man in question is almost always Van Dijk, who has scored 10 league goals.

His role in defensive set pieces is even more evident. After leaving the field at the weekend, Everton scored with two headers.

Put the defense high

Plus, Klopp will have to adjust his attacking game, because none of his blocks hit long passes as accurate as Van Dijk does.

The height of the defense line must also be reconsidered. Klopp has long been putting the defense on top of the field, knowing that Van Dijk will run and knock down most of the forwards he can find.

In June of last year, Van Dijk had played 64 games in a row without being passed. Is in statistics that tell a little about its quality.

The high defensive line affects the rest of the team. It allows the forwards to push hard, without too great a gap between the parts of the team, a fundamental part of Klopp’s strategy.

If Klopp now has to lower defense, it will affect the entire defensive structure.

Also, the defense will need a new boss who can organize his teammates. Here, Van Dijk will be missed as leader, vice-captain and communicator.

Once again, Klopp doesn’t have a player who is half as good at this as Van Dijk. When a plug is so magnificent that it seems to walk through great fights, without a drop of sweat on its forehead, the fault is doomed to be great.

If a statistic reflects the Van Dijk value, it may be the newspaper The Guardian Recently mentioned: During their two full seasons at Anfield, Liverpool have won 75 per cent of the games they have started and 40 per cent of the non-starters.

In a season that seems even and unpredictable, Van Dijk’s injury could quickly cost Liverpool the title.

Two plugs left

How will they manage without it?

The memory returns to the situation at Manchester City last season. In his fourth league game he suffered a serious injury to Aymeric Laporte, the team’s best closer, who has a smooth step and speed that allows the defense to stay upright.

In City’s first game without Laporte, they lost 3-2 to bottom row Norwich. City finally conceded 12 more goals than the previous season and took 17 fewer points.

What will now concern Klopp is that Liverpool conceded seven goals against Aston Villa and three against Leeds a few weeks earlier. with Van Dijk. Obviously there is something gurgling.

The German has only two experienced studs in the stable: Joe Gomez and Joël Matip. The two had never started a match together in central defense before.

The alternative is to move midfielder Fabinho’s anchor as a stopper, something that Klopp did with great success in the 2-0 away win at Chelsea in September.

However, the situation is critical and it is especially sad for Klopp that Van Dijk’s injury occurred so soon after the transfer window was closed. Now the whole world of football is wondering what Liverpool will be like now that the main pillar is gone.

At best, the layer structure will only weaken.

In the worst case, the defense will collapse.