Tribal Football

Liverpool captain Van Dijk: Saliba well ahead of me at same age

Paul Vegas
Liverpool captain Van Dijk: Saliba well ahead of me at same age
Liverpool captain Van Dijk: Saliba well ahead of me at same ageAction Plus
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk admits he's a fan of Arsenal defender William Saliba.

Van Dijk admits Saliba is well ahead of him at the same stage in his career.

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"Obviously, Saliba's making very good steps at the moment," Van Dijk said on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast.

"He's the first one I just have in mind now. He's a solid one. I think in possession, he's doing a good job."

Van Dijk then admitted: "I think, if I'm honest, when I was that age, I was nowhere near where he was today.

"Obviously, that's the beauty of football as well, I like to watch other defenders and pick up so many stuff from them.

"There are so many good ball players and centre-halves. When you watch the game, I definitely watch games, especially on the highest level, you can always pick up certain things.

"But I also have in mind that teams are defending in a different way than we are defending, so you have to keep that in mind too. I think, especially in ball possession, the way you position yourself, because obviously we are a team that has the ball a lot.

"I play on the left side as a right footer, centre-half, obviously for many years. Sometimes it's good to pick up the positioning of certain players and what they do. I feel like, at any age, you can keep learning and I definitely still do that."