[Sport] Replacing Van Dijk: Why Liverpool's centre-back search is far from straightforward

[The GodFather]

 

 

The Reds are renowned for having one of the most sophisticated transfer departments in world football but getting a defender like Van Dijk is not easy
 

It was a moment which had the potential to derail Liverpool’s entire season. A Merseyside derby defined not by football, but by controversy. A wild lunge from Jordan Pickford and a serious injury for Virgil van Dijk. An afternoon of frustration and anger, of sadness and regret. Costly, in more ways than one. Never mind the two points dropped.

They paled into insignificance once news of Van Dijk’s misfortune arrived, a few hours after the final whistle at Goodison Park. It was a bad one, a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament. The Reds would be without their talisman, without the world’s best defender, for months. It hit them hard.

And things got worse soon after, with Joe Gomez damaging his knee, badly, during a training session with England. Ligaments, once more. Months, once more. That was two centre-backs down in the space of a month, and Liverpool only started the season with three of them.

How, we asked, would they cope?

 

The answer, it turns out, is pretty well. So much so, in fact, that when the transfer window opens next week, Liverpool won’t be waiting at the door with their trolley, ready to see what they

can pick up in the January sales. That will surprise plenty.

 

Jamie Carragher, the former Reds defender, was among those who urged the club to sign a centre-back following Van Dijk’s injury.

“Liverpool’s next signing had to be a centre-back next summer anyway,” Carragher said in October. “That has to be brought forward to January 1 – not the end of the month.”

Carragher will not get his wish. Sources have told Goal that Liverpool are not planning an active January, that they won’t be making any first-team signings – centre-back or otherwise.

That speaks to the job Fabinho has done since moving back from midfield. The Brazilian has always been appreciated at Anfield, but his importance has been ratcheted up since Van Dijk and Gomez went down.

 

With Joel Matip, the club’s other senior, specialist centre-back, having what we could call a ‘chequered’ injury past, Fabinho has become even more vital to Jurgen Klopp’s plans. His form, in a new position, has been outstanding.

Credit, too, to the others who have stood tall when called upon. To Rhys Williams, a 19-year-old who spent last season in the sixth tier of English football on loan with Kidderminster, and to Nat Phillips, who would have been sold to the Championship in October had a suitable bid arrived. Williams and Phillips, between them, have made 11 appearances this season, and have rarely looked overawed or out of their depth.

Another teenage centre-back, Billy Koumetio, became the youngest European debutant in the club’s history at Midtjylland earlier this month, while captain Jordan Henderson slotted in alongside Fabinho when Matip went off at Fulham.

Liverpool have had plenty of problems, but they have found plenty of solutions. They are top of the Premier League, and qualified comfortably for the last 16 of the Champions League.

All of which explains, to some degree, why Jurgen Klopp and the club’s recruitment team, led by sporting director Michael Edwards, are so relaxed heading into the transfer window.

The Reds have had plenty of success with January signings – Van Dijk himself was one, of course – but the feeling at Anfield is that they can cope with what they have, even if Matip’s fitness record remains a source of concern.

There are, of course, financial factors at play too. Liverpool estimate they will lose at least £100 million ($137m) as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and have adjusted their budgets accordingly.