Ballon Dor 2019: 3 reasons why Van Dijk should win the Ballon d’Or award, as France Football magazine will declare result tonight.
France Football gives the Ballon d’Or award every year to the best footballer in a calendar year, as voted by the experts. Virgil Van Dijk is among the favourites to win the award as he had an extraordinary campaign with Liverpool last season.
Liverpool had the highest number of inclusions in the 30-men nominees released last month, with 7 players from Jurgen Klopp’s contingent. Among them, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Van Dijk are the prominent names.
And the Dutch defender is deemed to be the favourite to hold the title among them. Although, at the same time, the closest competition Van Dijk is going to have is with Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi.
The Argentine International had an exceptional year and led his side to the Champions League semi-final and La Liga triumph. At the individual level, nobody is even close to Messi’s stats.
Thus, Van Dijk does have a huge competition ahead of the Gala, hence we will reason out 3 points claiming why Van Dijk should win the award ahead of all tonight.
Also read: Virgil Van Dijk speaks on possibility of Lionel Messi winning Ballon D’or
1. Extraordinary defensive stat
Virgil Van Dijk was the epitome of defensive proficiency last season, as he boasted 65 games without being dribbled past until he was finally beaten by Gabriel Jesus in the community shield game.
His solid defending enhanced the quality of defence by the Reds and eventually making them win the Champions League match. This stat certainly proved Van Dijk’s consistency and dominance in the game.
His performances truly set an example and made him win UEFA Player of the year award and PFA Player of the year award. Which certainly declared him the best defender in the world.
naturally, Van Dijk can’t compete with Van Dijk in terms of goals but he certainly does have a special achievement along with him. Not to forget, even Messi failed to go past him in the two matches he played against him in 2019.
2. Champions League glory is ultimate
Since the past 5 years, the winner of the award has won a Champions League medal, thus proving it to be the ultimate glory in a calendar year, and Van Dijk played the biggest part in it during Liverpool’s conquest.
As the famous saying by Sir Alex Ferguson goes, “attack wins you games, defence wins you titles”. Indeed, the Dutch International forced his side to win the European medal and almost made them win the Premier League.
Liverpool certainly had the best defensive record in Europe and the credits obviously go the defensive setup at the Merseyside club. Furthermore, even after losing 3-0 in the first leg against Barcelona, the Reds managed to win by 4-0 in a brilliant display of attack and defence display.
A goal by Barcelona could have cost Liverpool the game, but Klopp’s side remained calm and the defensive unit played its role with absolute efficiency.
3. The new season is yet to see best of Van Dijk
There is a popular argument that Van Dijk has not been up to his last season’s brilliance and Liverpool is still conceding goals despite winning, accusing defence of losing its efficiency.
But, one has to consider that defensive setups work as a unit and a blunder by a single player can cost the whole team. Hence, it would be unfair to accuse Van Dijk absolutely for the leakage of goals.
Furthermore, a forward has many chances to show his individual brilliance in a particular match and a defender rarely comes forward. So, if a forward is having a poor match, then he can surely compensate with a goal or assist, eg: Messi’s goal last night.
But on the other side, a defender’s poor game can be fatal and give minimal chances are availed to turn up for the losses, apart from the indirect freekicks and corners, defenders rarely have a chance to score.
Furthermore, the season is yet to get into an advanced phase and from here Van Dijk is deemed to play an even more influential role. Meanwhile, Liverpool is having a great spell as a unit and Van Dijk should be awarded for his services.
