Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard recently sat down with current Liverpool great Mohamed Salah for a conversation about their respective careers for LFCTV – ‘When Stevie Met Salah’.
The two discussed their teammates the best defenders of their respective of their respective Liverpool teams, Jamie Carragher and Virgil van Dijk. Salah posed an important question to Gerrard, one long in the minds of Liverpool fans.
“Would you choose Carragher or Virg (van Dijk)?”, said Salah with a wry smile.
Gerrard praised Van Dijk Dutchman as one of the great defenders of all time but also praised Carragher as being as invaluable to Liverpool in his era as Van Dijk is in his current era.
“I think Virg is one of, if not the best defender in the world. I think there’s levels to it,” explained Gerrard. “I think Jamie would openly admit that.
“But the importance – how important Virg is to your team, Jamie would have the same importance to us because he was always in the right place at the right time, he was a leader. If you think Henderson’s loud, times ten, that’s Carragher. A little bit more high-pitched!
“So, Importance, I’d say the same to the team. But in terms of levels, Jamie would probably admit that Virgil van Dijk is in the top five defenders who ever lived, for me.”
Gerrard ultimately admits although Carragher was one of the greats of his era, Virgil van Dijk is in the conversation as one of the best defenders of all time.
This is certainly an interesting development as Van Dijk and Carragher have enjoyed a few tense exchanges this season. Carragher has criticized some of Van Dijk’s performances in what has been an inconsistent season for Liverpool that seems to have turned a corner recently. See below.
Let’s hope two of the greatest Liverpool players ever can patch things up.
🗣️ Carragher: "Virgil van Dijk said I wouldn't get in that back four a few months ago. I think I'd take his place at the moment…"
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) February 21, 2023
