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Sam Allardyce disagrees with what Jamie Carragher has said about Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk
Liverpool are top of the Premier League right now, and many of their star players are earning serious plaudits.
Mohamed Salah has been tipped as a Ballon d’Or winner after his incredible start to the season, while Ryan Gravenberch has been compared to Patrick Vieira.
Virgil van Dijk has also earned huge praise in recent times.
Didier Drogba called Van Dijk the best defender in the world recently, while Jamie Carragher said Van Dijk is the best Premier League centre-back ever at the weekend.
Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast, Sam Allardyce has addressed Carragher’s claim about Van Dijk, and he says that the pundit is wrong about the man.
Sam Allardyce disagrees with Jamie Carragher’s Virgil van Dijk claim
Allardyce was asked about Carragher’s Van Dijk claim.
The former England boss doesn’t think Van Dijk is the best centre-back the Premier League has ever seen, but he hailed the Dutchman for his brilliant performances this season.
“After the City game, Jamie Carragher made a bit statement, he said Van Dijk is the best Premier League centre-back of all-time, what do you think?
“I don’t think the best of all-time, no. Not all time, not what we’ve seen in the Premier League over the years. What the quality of centre-halves have been. Not to be the number one. What I like about him now is he seems to have fully recovered from his cruciate.
“When he came back he looked a yard short, he looked like he couldn’t read the game to deal with the lack of pace, but he seems to have overcome that now, and he’s back on top form, he’s right up there, there’s no doubt, but I wouldn’t put him at number one of all-time.”
Who is the Premier League’s best ever defender?
This is a very interesting topic of conversation.
The debate around who is the best defender the Premier League has ever seen is one that will split opinions everywhere.
Liverpool fans believe Van Dijk is the best ever, but other expert voices have put forward other names.
Gerard Pique believes Rio Ferdinand is the best to ever play in the Premier League, while Gabriel Agbonlahor says Ledley King was one of the most talented to centre-backs to play in England.
Meanwhile, William Saliba has hailed Van Dijk as the best centre-back of the Premier League era.
John Terry also has a strong case to make, while Bobby Zamora named Ricardo Carvalho as his toughest opponent personally.
There have been tons of brilliant centre-backs in the history of the Premier League, and Van Dijk is certainly in the conversation as one of the greatest of all-time.