Arsenal: Why Virgil van Dijk matters - and it's nothing to do with price

Arsenal sat on their hands while Liverpool secured Virgil van Dijk prior to the January window opening. This is why that matters. Hint: It’s not about price.

Arsenal and Liverpool are in very similar boats. They both boast a sizzling attack that can pierce any defense at any time. Liverpool just do it more often. They both have a shoddy defense. They are both inconsistent. They both want to return to a lost glory. They are both competing for one of the final top four spots.

You can see the big differences in the two head-to-heads. One, at Anfield, Liverpool pulverized the Gunners 4-0. The second, at the Emirates, Arsenal played well for five out of 85 minutes and still managed a 3-3 draw.

The difference is as much in tactical approach as it’s in the quantity of their quality.

And now, we have another clear difference marker with Virgil van Dijk being announced for Liverpool four days before the January transfer window even opened.

I’m not going to sing the same old tune of “other teams spend money and we don’t.” That’s old news. I’m also not here to talk about how the Dutch defender is nowhere near £75m, even though he is absolutely not worth that amount.

I will, however, talk about why this move does matter. And while it does factor in a bit of all of those things, the big, big difference is in the limitations of the two respective clubs’ abilities to correct a problem.

January is a tough window to find solutions, let alone big time solution. Van Dijk is a big time solution. He is Premier League proven and he will change their defense. They will surrender fewer goals in the second half than the Gunners (assuming they don’t identify a similar solution) and it will be clear why.

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Arsenal, meanwhile, are already being prepared for a quiet January as the club struggles to figure out any part of their team – attack, midfield or defense. I won’t berate the Gunners until the January window is all said and done. I will, however, moan about how Liverpool so clearly identified a problem and patched it up as soon as they humanly could. Before, even.

Arsenal have problems. Lots of them. And they won’t address them head on. They will tap-dance around the issue. This is why the front office is changing. Because while Jurgen Klopp was managing the team, Liverpool secured him the best defender believed to be on the market.

That’s what having a multi-pronged transfer team can do.

Van Dijk is going to change the Liverpool defense. Partner him with Joel Matip and your strength and aerial presence is worth salivating over.

Next: 5 Things Learned Against Liverpool

What is going to change the Arsenal defense? More time? More faith?

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Arsenal: Why Virgil van Dijk matters – and it’s nothing to do with price

By Josh Sippie | Dec 28, 2017

Arsenal sat on their hands while Liverpool secured Virgil van Dijk prior to the January window opening. This is why that matters. Hint: It’s not about price.

More from Pain in the Arsenal