“He’s up there with Baresi, Rio Ferdinand” – Ryan Shawcross showers praise on Liverpool star as he names his best opposition XI

“He’s up there with Baresi, Rio Ferdinand” – Ryan Shawcross showers praise on Liverpool star as he names his best opposition XI

Former Stoke City defender Ryan Shawcross has showered praise on Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk.

Ryan shawcross came through the youth ranks of Manchester United, has claimed that the defender is on his way to becoming the best centre-back ever.

Shawcross was asked to pick his ‘nightmare opposition XI’ for StokeonTrentLive and made van Dijk his captain over the likes of Steven Gerrard and Nemanja Vidic.

Virgil van Dijk’s pace and strength allowed him to dominate the Inter Milan attackers. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Shawcross told StokeonTrentLive:

“[Van Dijk is] slowly becoming the [best] centre-back ever and he’s my captain in this team.”

“I’ve kept saying that you can’t rank him up there with the best because he hasn’t done it for long enough but the more I watch him, I can’t find a fault in his game.”

“I look on in envy. Every attribute he’s 10/10. He’s unbelievable on the ball, one v one, aerially he never gets beat, he reads the game brilliantly and holds a ridiculous high line to help Liverpool press.”

“I’m surprised it took him so long to get to the top. When he played for Southampton he gave away a penalty at our place and it was still one of the best performances I’d seen. A Rolls Royce. At [£75m] he was a steal.”

“Put him in Arsenal’s team and they’d be title challengers, put him in Man City’s and they’d win the league by 20 points.

“I love watching him. He’s up there with Baresi, Hierro, Rio Ferdinand and Cannavaro.”

In other news, “He can do much more” – Marco van Basten says Liverpool superstar can still improve