'Can't lace their boots' – Virgil van Dijk is 'overrated' and not in the same league as John Terry or Rio Ferdinand

Virgil van Dijk has been branded as “overrated” and not fit enough to ‘lace the boots’ of John Terry or Rio Ferdinand after Liverpool’s shock 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth.

Van Dijk arrived at Anfield in 2017 in a £75m deal from Southampton and made an immediate impact under Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

The 31-year-old Dutch defender has lifted a Premier League title, a Champions League trophy, an FA Cup and a League Cup during his time with Liverpool.

However, Van Dijk suffered a hamstring injury in Liverpool’s 3-1 Premier League defeat to Brentford in January before making his return to the Reds.

The Liverpool centre-back was at fault in Bournemouth’s win on Saturday after Dango Ouattara passed by him to set up Philip Billing for their first-half winner.

Following Bournemouth’s 1-0 victory at the Vitality Stadium, Jason Cundy ruthlessly slammed Van Dijk for his costly error and claimed he makes “too many mistakes.”

“I think he’s overrated, personally. I’ve seen a lot… Yeah, I think there’s a lot of media-loving with what Van Dijk has done,” he told talkSPORT.

“No doubt he’s a brilliant centre-half; he makes too many mistakes. Mistakes that I think that go unnoticed.

“There was a goal they conceded when they went out a couple of seasons ago during COVID in the Champions League.

“And again, he has this language style of run, he seems to try and buy time but doesn’t react, even though there was a chance there where he […] was dragging down […] [Dominic] Solanke, he’s got hold of him.

“That is poor centre-half play, even though he’s on the other side. I think he’s had a good 18 months and I know the injury has had an impact on that, but that goal today was not about the injury.

“[…] I can’t quite put my finger on it because once he gets away from him on that right-hand side, he seems to stop and misjudge the situation.”

Cundy added: “People compare him with John Terry and Rio Ferdinand. He can’t lace their boots.”

READ MORE:

• Liverpool told it’s ‘time to sell’ Virgil van Dijk after his Real Madrid horror show
• Jurgen Klopp defends Gary Lineker over BBC row, says he cannot understand decision to stand him down
• Six Liverpool players are ‘banned’ from touching ‘This Is Anfield’ sign, including Cody Gakpo

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Virgil Van Dijk, Liverpool, Premier League, England, Football

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

@AdnanRiaz9