The making of Van Dijk

Is Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk the most complete defender in the Premier League? The Dutchman’s reputation is growing. Adam Bate spoke to Van Dijk’s former coaches at FC Groningen to find out more about a journey that could yet take the player to the very top.

Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier is certainly convinced. “Virgil van Dijk is one of the best central defenders in the Premier League,” he told Sky Sports at the weekend. “He’s an absolute giant for us. He just makes the game look so easy.”

Fellow former Southampton player Jamie Redknapp agrees. “I’ve liked him since his Celtic days,” said Redknapp. “He’s come to the Premier League and is making it look easy. I think Toby Alderweireld might just edge him as the best but he’s certainly not far behind.

“He’s got it all. He’s obviously very big, he’s good on the ball and he’s got pace. He’s the modern-day centre-back who can come forward with the ball. He could play for any team in the future – Barcelona, Real Madrid – he’s that good.”

In conversation on Super Sunday, the two men identified only one potential problem. “He loses concentration sometimes, he finds it that easy,” said Le Tissier. “But that’s how good he is.” Redknapp added: “He’s so laidback because the game becomes so easy for him.”

Easy. That’s the recurring word when it comes to Van Dijk. For his old coaches at FC Groningen, the men who got hold of him from Willem II reserves in 2010, it brings a chuckle. That’s the teenager they remember. A supremely gifted talent who needed to be pushed.

Former Rangers and Netherlands winger Pieter Huistra is the man who gave Van Dijk his Groningen debut in 2011, but only after the youngster had spent almost a full season waiting for his Eredivisie opportunity. Before he was ready, there was much work to do.

“He had a vision and he could read the game,” Huistra tells Sky Sports, “but as a young player you also have to learn what you’re reading and interpret that in connection to the team’s tactics. It was obvious though, that he would become a good player.

Huistra recalls a young man who enjoyed playing but, initially at least, “had to be pushed to train” in order to improve. There were also the niggling injuries that hampered his progress. “He had to become stronger and fitter,” says Huistra. “He was tall but easily off balance.

“Once that was all in place, it went more smoothly and he took a lot of the initiative himself. From the moment he joined the first team, I saw him investing in himself – going to the gym and becoming a stronger player. He learnt that under Dick Lukkien.”

The 44-year-old Lukkien was Groningen’s reverse-team coach at the time and later became the assistant manager at the club. An excellent coach, he also has a reputation as a tough – but fair – taskmaster. Van Dijk endured a difficult relationship with him at first.

This preference for the stick …

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