Its all about opinions and that’s the opinion of former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy after the Dutchman’s display against Arsenal.You probably have yours too.
The 27-year-old has transformed the Reds’ defence since his arrival back in January with Liverpool only conceding 14 goals in 25 Premier League games with Van Dijk in defence.
That includes just five goals conceded in 11 this term, with no team yet to score more than once in the same game against the Merseyside outfit.
Even Arsenal’s in-form attack could not manage to score more than once at the Emirates Stadium yesterday as the two teams played out a thrilling 1-1 draw.
That saw Alexandre Lacazette cancel out James Milner’s strike late on, with Van Dijk hitting the post and seeing two fine chances saved as Jurgen Klopp’s side squandered chances to claim all three points.
But despite failing to win, Van Dijk and centre-back partner Joe Gomez were among the stand-out performers for the visitors in north London, as Murphy was keen to recognise.
Murphy said of Van Dijk on Match of the Day: “He’s an absolutely phenomenal footballer and he’s turning into a really good leader.
“You look at their back line, it was pretty much perfect for most of the day. Van Dijk was pivotal in that.
“Leading them, talking to them, he gave a few rockets out today which is important – you need to someone to try and get the best out of those around you.
“But it’s his all-round game, there doesn’t seem to be a weakness; [good] positional sense, reading the play.
“What you get from Van Dijk is every aspect you want from a centre half, makes passing look easy, very rarely gives the ball away, he looks sometimes like he’s playing in a lower gear.
“No-one outruns him and he was up against three really good attacking players today. Lacazette and [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang are a real handful and in the opposing box he was a real handful as well.
“Powers of recovery, doesn’t dive in, so many defenders there go to ground, strength – must be a nightmare to play against him. Gomez alongside him, I thought he was good as well.
“At times Liverpool when they don’t play so well now they can dig in and defend and get a point where maybe in seasons gone by they didn’t quite have the tools to do that.
“Van Dijk, he just looks so confident at the moment, he looks like every penny spent on him was worth it.
“We talked about the fee but for me he’s the best centre half in the Premier League at the moment.”
Liverpool return to Champions League action on Tuesday when they face Red Star Belgrade (5.55pm) away from home having beaten the Serbians 4-0 a fortnight ago.