Garth Crooks compares Liverpool ace to Italian playmaking legend

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BBC pundit Garth Crooks once again named Virgil van Dijk in his Premier League Team of the Week.

The Dutchman continued his incredible form for the Reds last weekend with a solid performance against Chelsea.

The £75 million ace helped Jurgen Klopp’s side keep yet another clean sheet in the league, and personally made five clearances against the Blues.

He also completed 90% of his passes, prompting rave reviews from Crooks.

He wrote for the BBC: “Now this is getting ridiculous. Virgil van Dijk is now stroking balls to Mohamed Salah as if he’s Andrea Pirlo. Not only is Van Dijk running his back four like a military operation, he is also picking out match-winning passes almost at will. Is there anything this lad can’t do at the moment.”

TBR’s view

van Dijk’s passing is something that kind of takes a back seat, considering how strong other aspects of his game are.

The defender is known for being perfectly positioned and being aerially dominant, which often means his passing ability is overlooked.

van Dijk is unquestionably one of the best passing defenders in the Premier League and quite possibly one of the best in any position.

In the Premier League so far, he has recorded an 89.7% pass completion rate (via WhoScored) which is hugely impressive.

van Dijk’s long passing in particular is brilliant, although to liken him to Pirlo might be a bit of a stretch.

The Italian maestro was the master at pinging long passes from deep, and very few players have come close to matching his ability down the years.