So frustrating that he’s been out for so long. Looked like such a prospect, but when players got absent for so long at a young age, you always insider how they will come back.
This from Van Dijk sums it up.
“At 16, I was a right-back and I wasn’t good enough to play as a centre-back. I never stood out as a player until I got to the U19s and was named captain,” he admitted.
“Sometimes I played as a full-back, other times in the middle. From there, everything got much better. I played for the U23s and everything accelerated.”
One of the reasons Van Dijk was able to transform into the player he is today was a sudden growth spurt, making him much more physically imposing.
However, while that obviously benefits his game now, it wasn’t so easy for him to adapt to his new body to begin with.
He explained: “When I was young I wasn’t so tall until I had a growth spurt. At 16, my little brother was taller than me, but during the summer I turned 17 I grew 18cms!
“I struggled to run normally. My knee was a little unstable. I had problems with my groin. I needed rehabilitation work and was out for six weeks.
“It was like living in another body. After all that, I started to play well.”