[New post] Virgil van Dijk must ‘up his game’ if Liverpool star is to be compared with Chelsea, Man City and Manchester United legends John Terry, Vincent Kompany and Rio Ferdinand

Phil Spencer posted: " Virgil van Dijk needs to 'up his game' if he's to be held in the same esteem as Rio Ferdinand, Vincent Kompany or John Terry, talkSPORT have been told. The Liverpool defender has endured a tough start to the season, by his own high standards, " talkSPORT Virgil van Dijk must 'up his game' if Liverpool star is to be compared with Chelsea, Man City and Manchester United legends John Terry, Vincent Kompany and Rio Ferdinand Phil Spencer Sep 1 Virgil van Dijk needs to 'up his game' if he's to be held in the same esteem as Rio Ferdinand, Vincent Kompany or John Terry, talkSPORT have been told. The Liverpool defender has endured a tough start to the season, by his own high standards, with the Dutch centre-back singled out for criticism during the opening weeks of the season. Van Dijk is enduring a difficult season so far by his own high standards Van Dijk has made errors leading to goals against Fulham and Manchester United Usually a team with a robust backline, Jurgen Klopp's side have already conceded six goals in their opening five matches which has contributed to their mixed start of two wins, two draws and a defeat in their opening five matches. While Van Dijk isn't entirely responsible for that by any means, the 31-year-old has been the subject of criticism. And Ally McCoist and Gabby Agbonlahor believe he isn't looking nearly as dominant in recent weeks as he has in recent years. Asked by Alan Brazil whether Van Dijk has got complacent, McCoist told talkSPORT Breakfast: "I'm not sure if I'd use the word complacent but I said to you earlier, Mitrovic was the first forward that I can remember giving him a seriously hard time in that opening game at Craven Cottage. "Mitrovic is a powerful unit and he played that game like he has this season, with a lot to prove, because people have been asking if he can score in the top flight. He's certainly answering that. "For the first time it looked like Van Dijk struggled with someone's physicality. "He looks like he's gone off the boil slightly." The defender has to up his game if he's going to be compared with the Premier League's defensive greats Agbonlahor added: "Even in the Man United game, he didn't look like he really wanted to do the proper defending, you know, getting his body in front of the ball. "For the Sancho goal, he had his arms behind his back. If that was Rio Ferdinand or John Terry, they'd be flying out to make a block. "Sometimes when he's running back and defending it's like he's in second gear. It's like he's got more but he's taking it easy, like he's saying 'you're not going to take me on, I'm Van Dijk', but if someone does then it shocks him and then he struggles to get back. "He's definitely got to up his game but I think that he can easily." Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from talkSPORT. Change your email settings at manage subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://talksport.com/football/1183717/virgil-van-dijk-liverpool-premier-league-man-united-chelsea-rio-ferdinand-john-terry/ Powered by Jetpack