Roy Keane believes Virgil van Dijk was simply doing his 'job' against Manchester City as he refused to praise the Liverpool defender.
Van Dijk had the opportunity to silence his doubters against City on Sunday afternoon as he came up against the in-form Erling Haaland. The forward has exploded into English football.
Ahead of today’s game, Haaland had scored 20 goals in 13 matches, figures that haven’t been reached since the 1920s, while Van Dijk has looked uncharacteristically vulnerable so far this season.
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But as Liverpool ran out 1-0 winners thanks to Mohamed Salah’s goal at Anfield, Van Dijk showed just why he has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or and is widely regarded as the best defender in the world. The Dutchman never gave the City forward a sniff, and produced a superb headed clearance in the dying stages of the game as Pep Guardiola’s side went in search of an equaliser.
However, when asked about the clearance and the Dutchman’s overall performance, Manchester United great Keane offered a typically blunt response.
He said: "That’s his job. He done it well today and we’re giving him credit but he hasn’t been doing it this season. Before the game, there was a lot of talk about Haaland, his pride would’ve kicked in, you don’t like to be criticised and he put a performance in today."
Meanwhile, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes Van Dijk played like a man who had a point to prove.
“He played the game like he had something to prove, I’ve never seen Van Dijk like that the way I saw today,” he told Sky Sports.
Before he added: “He was a leader and we said he needed to show some of that today. There was an instance before when he’s sliding to block a cross - when do you ever see Van Dijk on the floor ever?
“It just felt like he was going into the game thinking ‘the world’s watching’ he was using his strength, power. He’s been amazing for five years but I’ve never seen anything like that with the fighting and the battle.”
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