David Lynch has sympathy for Liverpool player who’s ‘been made to look stupid at times’
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He won’t get praised for that because Liverpool as a defensive unit, as a football team, as a unit, are in absolute shambles.“I still think he’s the best [centre-back] in the league by a mile. Maybe he’s not 2019 Van Dijk, but I still think he’s comfortably the best.
I just think he’s in an awful team. Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trustVan Dijk has been one of Liverpool’s best players in a tough seasonThe captain’s performances this season have oscillated between good and bad, with Troy Deeney praising him for coming up clutch with a stoppage-time Merseyside derby winner last month, but Pat Nevin claiming after a costly error at Bournemouth in January that the 34-year-old is in irreversible decline.Van Dijk hasn’t performed with the same consistency this term as in previous campaigns, but we fully agree with Lynch when he says that the centre-back hasn’t been helped by poor performances of many teammates, particularly those in defence.Ibrahima Konate has had to cope with the death of his father earlier this year, but objectively he’s been culpable of far too many hideous mistakes this season.
That said, he most certainly isn’t alone in that regard.Figures from WhoScored rank the captain as Liverpool’s second-best player in 2025/26 with an overall rating of 7.06, and he’s still been the market leader (or close to it) for several metrics throughout the campaign. 2025/26 Premier League Per 90 minutes Squad ranking Goals (total) 6 5th Clearances 7.4 1st Aerial duels won 4.5 1st Passing success 89.1% 3rd* Interceptions 0.7 5th *Note: Excludes players with zero league starts this seasonCrucially, Van Dijk has been ever-present in a season which has seen the Reds suffer numerous defensive injuries, and it’s frightening to think of how much worse things would be if he had been sidelined for a lengthy period of time.The Dutchman is still going strong in his mid-30s, and his successor as the general of Liverpool’s defence will have an incredibly hard act to follow after he departs.