Virgil van Dijk caused controversy last week by saying there wouldn't be a place in the current Liverpool defence for Jamie Carragher - a man who played 737 times for the Reds during his long career.
Carragher's Sky Sports partner, Gary Neville, asked Van Dijk on ' the Overlap ' whether the ex-Red would get into the Liverpool side and the Dutch captain's answer gave Neville a pleasant surprise.
Van Dijk simply didn't think Carragher would be suited to the modern game, but the Liverpool number four is overlooking certain aspects of Carragher's game that could have been a huge help to Jurgen Klopp's side in this tough campaign.
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Van Dijk joked with Neville : "Not even in the full squad, the first 20. He will be in the stands! You have to think about it. You have two centre-backs playing, hopefully, I’m playing and it’s Joe Gomez now [alongside].
"You have Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate, you’re not going to put another centre-back in. I’m serious about that. He played many games for Liverpool but in the modern game I think Matip and Konate would be ahead of him.”
Carragher has every right to take these comment to heart as he issued a simple response to Van Dijk's snub when he posted Pepe Reina's clean sheet record after 200 matches for the Reds compared to Alisson Becker's record - two records that both Carragher and Van Dijk were very much involved with.
The former Red may well not have been as quick and powerful as Ibrahima Konate or as good on the ball as Matip, but one thing he had in abundance was heart and desire - something Liverpool have lacked on occasions this season.
Steven Gerrard was the star of the Liverpool sides Carragher featured in, but the defender was perhaps the captain without the armband. Gerrard was seen more as someone who led by example, and he did so brilliantly, but the red faced defender wasn't afraid to give anyone a grilling and it pushed his side onto glory.
Would Liverpool have won in Istanbul if it wasn't for Carragher? No. Late on in that 2005 final, Carragher showed the heart and desire that not many would have been capable of as he carried on against AC Milan despite crippling cramp. Would anyone in this current Reds defence do the same?
Carragher was an old school defender in the sense that he would have put his head anywhere to prevent a goal being scored. He certainly would let his team-mates know if standards has slipped and that could be one of the only criticisms of the imperious Van Dijk.
Is it disrespectful from Van Dijk to exclude Carragher? Probably not, as he is backing Gomez, Konate and Matip, but Carragher's long career at Anfield under several managers suggests otherwise.
Perhaps the dream partnership at Liverpool would be Carragher alongside Van Dijk. The Rolls Royce defender next to someone who loves doing the dirty work would have been a match made in heaven.
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