Van Dijk is a physically strong, right-footed centre-back, who usually features on the left-hand side of central defence, although he can also play as a right-sided centre-back. He is gifted with pace, good technique, and an eye for goal, and is an effective set-piece taker. Regarding his ability, former Celtic teammate Kris Commons commented that Van Dijk was "comfortable on the ball", also noting that "He had good technique and a wonderful right foot. He was good on set-pieces, some of the free-kicks he scored for Celtic are absolute wonders. He could read the game well. He had an aura about him, a confidence, because I think he knew he was good." Neil McGuinness, senior scout at Celtic when Van Dijk was signed, called him "everything you would want if you could create a profile of the ideal central defender", praising him as a "very smooth ball-playing defender" who possesses aerial prowess, skills from dead ball situations, and "strong leadership qualities", while commenting that since his move to England, he is "more tactically aware now [...] his anticipation and timing has improved and he is a lot more of an all-rounder". McGuinness believes Van Dijk's "biggest problem" is that he "can switch off when the game is comfortable". In 2018, Steve Douglas of The Globe and Mail described Van Dijk with the following words: "Powerful in the air, measured with the ball at his feet, quick, and with superb positional sense, van Dijk [sic] has it all." Dario Pergolizzi also described Van Dijk as a good marker in 2019. In a 2019 interview with Marca, when Lionel Messi was asked why Van Dijk was so difficult to beat, the Argentine responded: "He is a defender who knows how to judge his timing and wait for the right moment to challenge or jockey [the attacker]. He is very fast and big, but he has a lot of agility for his height. He is fast because of its [sic] great stride, and he is impressive both in defence and attack because he scores lots of goals." That same year, Paul Merson described Van Dijk as "the best in the world, and I think by a long way, as a defensive centre-half." In 2020, Vincent Kompany called Van Dijk the best centre-back to ever appear in the Premier League, claiming the Liverpool "before Van Dijk and the other after him, it's a completely different setup". In 2022, Erling Haaland named Van Dijk the best defender he has played against, calling him "fast, strong and 'bad' smart", as well as praising his timing. In 2023, Ben Foster claimed that Van Dijk was the "best defender that has ever lived" during his pre-injury run with Liverpool. In 2024, Van Dijk revealed that while his childhood favourite team used to be Barcelona, his biggest inspiration as a defender was AC Milan's centre back Alessandro Nesta. He had also named Ronaldinho as his favourite player of all time, who in turn called Van Dijk a fantastic player, highlighting his elegance on the ball and mastery while in command of the defence.

From English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA