Virgil van Dijk is slowly proving why he is the most expensive defender in the world

Van Djik joins Liverpool for a world record fee
Van Dijk joins Liverpool for a world record fee

It's unfortunate that Liverpool have won 19 league titles but are yet to taste triumph in the Premier League era. For a club that has been blessed with so many attacking talents over the years, it isn't very enigmatic to see them miss out on all these titles in England. In the 2013/2014 season, Liverpool came extremely close to winning their first Premier League title in the new era.

Unfortunately, they missed out after Manchester City secured the league by just two points. Although Liverpool finished 2nd that season, they conceded 50 goals - more than any side in the top 8. For some time now Liverpool's Achilles heel has been their defence; they tend to score a lot of goals but find it difficult to see out games defensively.

However, this has not always been the case. Once upon a time, Liverpool had an established centre-back pairing in Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia under Rafa Benitez. This partnership offered so much solidarity at the back for The Reds but since their departure, there has been no solid base to build on.

A very dependable pairing in Carragher and Hyypia
A very dependable pairing in Carragher and Hyypia

The three necessary characteristics of a central defender are communication, concentration and organisation. These characteristics are synonymous with central defenders. Jamie Carragher was a leader at the back. He was very vocal at the back and he would always organise his teammates. After him, Liverpool lacked a leader at the back.

Jurgen Klopp has built an army with this Liverpool side that thrives mostly in entertaining and eye-catching football, but a persistent feature has been a general lack of defensive resilience which has prevented them from being serious contenders in European and domestic competitions.

This problem was supposedly addressed after Liverpool secured the services of Virgil van Dijk from Southampton for a reported £75 million - a world record fee for a defender. The million dollar question was whether the arrival of Van Dijk would curb Liverpool's frailties at the back. To answer this, let's take a look at the state of Liverpool 6 months prior to Van Dijk's arrival and 6 months after Van Dijk became the world's most expensive defender.

Liverpool before Van Dijk (6-month summary)

Before Van Dijk joined in January, Liverpool's defensive issues were still very visible. The club from Merseyside had scored 65 goals in 28 games. However, they had conceded 32 - the most by any of the top 5 clubs. A lack of concentration at the back saw Liverpool drop points at Sevilla, Burnley, Spartak Moskva, Newcastle, Tottenham, Chelsea, Everton and Arsenal.

In most of the games, the Reds took a lead which they ended up surrendering due to the lack of defensive organisation to see out games. The standout game in the pre-Van Dijk era was the 3-3 draw at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium against Sevilla in the Champions League.

That game encompassed the Liverpool team that we have become so used to - a very commanding attacking performance in the first half followed by a very poor defensive performance in the second half. Liverpool had become a coin with two sides - you just wouldn't know which side you would encounter.

There was a reason Sevilla targeted Moreno in the 2016 Europa League final and they didn't hesitate to target him again as he was responsible for Sevilla's comeback. The problem was beyond an individual error, it was the system Jurgen Klopp deployed defensively and the lack of a leader at the back.

Liverpool managed to keep just 1 clean sheet in 11 away games before January last season - which was the 7-0 win against Maribor.

Liverpool after signing Van Dijk (6-month summary)

Tagged as the world's most expensive defender, Van Dijk did attract some pressure from the media, the pressure which Van Dijk handled very professionally. He settled in quickly and on his debut against Everton in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, he scored the winner. After the game, Klopp couldn't hide his admiration for the Dutch defender.

"A fairy tale in a world with not a lot of fairy tales anymore. So I think something like that is quite special. It was a difficult decision to make to be honest because, to be 100 per cent honest, the first plan was not to start him tonight but then Dejan [Lovren] and Raggy [Ragnar Klavan] played a lot of games in the last few weeks, so I changed my mind this morning. And it helped! "He showed a lot of things we want him to show in the future very often tonight; heading of course, football-wise his first touch was good, good under pressure and then around set pieces a proper threat."

Van Dijk seamlessly settled into Liverpool setup. It was as if the two were made for each other, a match made in heaven which meant that Liverpool only conceded 6 goals in their remaining 10 Premier League matches. Since Virgil van Dijk made his Liverpool debut, no player has kept more clean sheets in the Premier League than him.

It is clear that in a short period, Virgil van Dijk has reminded Liverpool fans of the solidity Carragher and Hyypia once offered. For a long time, Liverpool fans have been foraging a leader at the back who has the ability to communicate, concentrate and organise.

Their search is over because they have found these attributes in Van Dijk, a young but experienced defender who is very mobile and aerially dominant. In Liverpool's first fixture of the 2018/2019 season, they won 4-0 against West Ham. However, an effortless clean sheet at home was well engineered by the Liverpool defence. A defence which was well marshalled by Van Dijk.

He looks like a defender who will be around for a long time considering the amount of passion he exerts on the field. Liverpool are lucky to have him and he is lucky to have Liverpool.

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Edited by Raunak J