Southampton’s crest should include a salamander. The reptile famed for its ability to regenerate lost limbs would be a fitting emblem for a club that continues to find excellent replacements for departed stalwarts. Virgil van Dijk suggested here he is yet another shrewd addition.
Southampton paid £11.5m on transfer deadline day to bring the Dutch centre-back from Celtic to fill the gap left by Toby Alderweireld. Alderweireld defected to Tottenham in the summer rather than move permanently to St Mary’s after excelling there on loan last season in place of Dejan Lovren, who had left for Liverpool the previous summer.
The early indications are that Van Dijk represents a bargain and not only in comparison to the £20m that Liverpool paid them for Lovren. Ronald Koeman said his young compatriot put in “a perfect performance” during the 0-0 draw on his debut at West Bromwich Albion two weeks ago but that description could not have been exact because Van Dijk’s performance against Swansea was even better.
The centre-back opened the scoring by heading in after a well-worked corner delivered by James Ward-Prowse. Dusan Tadic and Sadio Mané scored further goals for Southampton before Van Dijk almost scored again, his sweetly struck free-kick bringing a save from Lukasz Fabianski. Along with those two examples of his offensive power Van Dijk demonstrated his fundamental quality as a defender, leading the home team’s rearguard with elegant authority. “Virgil is strong, he’s quick and he’s good in the air. It’s great to play with him,” said the 24-year-old’s partner in central defence, José Fonte. “He’s very confident and only young as well. He makes my job easier.”
One of Van Dijk’s most obvious attributes is his poise on the ball. Against Manchester United the previous weekend there were a couple of times when he was almost caught in possession, as if the speed of the English top flight compared to the Scottish Premiership took him by surprise. But he has adjusted quickly.
“The biggest thing for me has been getting used to the tempo of the Premier League, getting to know your team-mates, and it takes a bit of time,” said Van Dijk, who feels his adaptation may have been helped by the presence of so many Dutchmen and two other canny Southampton recruits from Celtic, Fraser Forster and Victor Wanyama. “That makes it a lot easier and that is starting to show on the pitch.” It also helps that he is managed by Koeman.
“He was a big part of the reason I came here,” added Van Dijk. “He’s an amazing coach and was an amazing player as well. He’s been through everything in his career, everything you could experience, and he was a defender. I’ve learned a lot from him. In Holland he is a very big person, a big name, and it makes it a lot easier for me here.”
Southampton’s defence kept Swansea at bay for most of the match but conceded a late penalty after a misjudged tackle by Fonte on Neil Taylor. Gylfi Sigurdsson converted for a Swansea side who had not scored in their previous three matches. The home team’s solidity was bolstered by Ryan Bertrand, who was typically immaculate on his first start of the season after returning from injury.
After replacing Luke Shaw superbly at Southampton last season Bertrand looks an ideal replacement for the injured Manchester United defender in the England squad. The 20-year-old Matt Targett had done well at left-back for Southampton in Bertrand’s absence but there is no doubting who is the first choice in that position at St Mary’s. “Having Ryan back is massive for us,” says Fonte. “Targett is still young, he’s still learning, he did very well, but Ryan gives us more maturity and more experience. We saw that [against Swansea]. We looked really comfortable in defence. It was a big difference.”
Man of the match Virgil van Dijk (Southampton)
