Liverpool’s revamped midfield has been one of the main motives behind the Reds’ rebirth this season.
Having endured such a hard campaign closing time out, Liverpool have bounced returned to launch a Premier League title project in 2023/24.
Although their midfield of yesteryear performed a massive section in them prevailing title after title under Jurgen Klopp, it without a doubt wished upgrading.
Thankfully, Liverpool have been able to do that with some uber-smart recruitment in the switch window. In came Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch and the Reds haven’t regarded back.
Added to the backbone they had at the membership already, Liverpool’s midfield is now one of the nice in the Premier League. According to TalkSPORT pundit Dean Saunders though, Klopp should be counted on one of his defenders to play in midfield if he honestly needed to as well.
What has Dean Saunders said about Liverpool
Of course, Liverpool virtually do have a defender, two in fact, who have performed in midfield for them this season.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has famously been reinvented as a central midfielder either while inverting from right-back, or playing games outright in the middle of the pitch.
Another who has stepped similarly ahead this season is Joe Gomez. Like Alexander-Arnold, Gomez has been inverting from right or left-back but additionally started out closing month’s win over Nottingham Forest in protective midfield.
However, the man that former Liverpool striker Saunders has put ahead is neither Trent nor Joe. Instead, the pundit thinks Virgil van Dijk has characteristics that should mark him out as a midfielder.
“Van Dijk for me, what a player. It’s difficult to find a higher centre-back than him in the world,” Saunders raved. “The lower back 4 sometimes was once Bradley, Quansah and Tsimikas at left-back and Kelleher in desires and he’s keeping those 5 together and he’s achieved it.
“Last 12 months he wasn’t as good, maybe his damage was once still putting over him a little bit. But a participant who can play on the midway line, can play football like a midfield player and sprint like a speedy full-back, difficult to beat.”
Will Virgil van Dijk play midfield for Liverpool
Although we’ve seen Gomez do it this season, we definitely don’t see how Van Dijk would ever be moved into midfield for Liverpool.
He ought to in reality do it. The 32-year-old’s passing vary is one of the quality in the Reds squad. However, we certainly need him too a great deal at the back.
We’d also argue that in our opinion, Virgil is possibly no longer quite mobile ample to do the job of a midfielder. He’s quick, no doubt, but it’s a long way round him.
Having seen more than a few players pushed into all varieties of positions and accomplished properly this season, we can’t say we wouldn’t be intrigued via this idea. But a lot would have to have long gone incorrect for Virg to be doing his first-class Stevie G impression.
