Former Liverpool striker claims he’d have ‘no problem’ facing Virgil van Dijk, ‘wouldn’t have been able to cope’…

A former Liverpool striker has claimed that he’d be able to deal with the physical nature of Reds captain Virgil van Dijk on the football pitch.

Virgil van Dijk is one of the most feared defenders, not just in the Premier League, but in world football. The towering Dutchman is a fearsome sight to behold at the back.

And his fearsome nature doesn’t just translate to his looks, it’s also in his remarkable footballing talent. Thanks to this, he’s led Liverpool to numerous trophies, and will likely continue to do so.

Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images

He really is a forward’s nightmare – but not Emile Heskey’s.

Emile Heskey claims he could handle Virgil van Dijk

Speaking to Adebayo Akinfenwa, the pair discussed Van Dijk, when the EFL’s famous forward asked Heskey if he could face up against the Dutchman on the football pitch.

“No problem,” Heskey responded confidently. “Yeah, no problem. Say nothing. I’m not going to lie.

“Okay, let’s go back to my era. When you talk about strikers, every single one of us was a dribbler. That’s what defenders hated.

“These days, they don’t really have strikers who can dribble. Now, you’ve got forwards who make runs, who try to get on the end of things and score goals – but they’re not dribblers.”

“Big Stan Collymore – I wish they had those kinds of players now. Guys who are 6’4” and can move like that. Dwight Yorke, I, and Andy Cole, Michael Owen were all dribblers.

“Defenders wouldn’t have been able to cope with that today. But you just don’t see that type of striker anymore.”

Very bold words from the former Reds forward. Van Dijk is world-class amd infamously holds the dribbled past stat from a few years back, so for Heskey, who wasn’t exactly the most mobile, to claim he can skip past him is an out there comment.

Heskey’s goalscoring record for Liverpool

Despite not being the most competent dribbler, he definitely knew where the back of the net was.

Club Appearances Goals Assists Liverpool FC 223 60 30

Heskey scored 159 goals across his career, but it was at Anfield where he played his best football.

He signed for Liverpool on 10 March 2000 in a £11 million move, which, at the time, set the record transfer fee paid by the Merseyside club.

It would be nice to see Heskey vs Van Dijk. Maybe coming to a charity match near you?

Click here to read article