“That Annoying Person…” Van Dijk Explains Why He Hates Going Up Against Ex Arsenal And Chelsea Star

“That Annoying Person…” Van Dijk Explains Why He Hates Going Up Against Ex Arsenal And Chelsea Star

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk says AC Milan striker Olivier Giroud is the one player he finds it difficult to defend against.

The Dutchman has faced all of the best forwards in the world, including Robert Lewandowski, Karim Benzema and Erling Haaland, but van Dijk says Giroud is someone who always seems to get the better of him:

“I always felt like I had him but somehow he always managed to score against us. Whether it was for Arsenal, Chelsea or France, he always scored. The year we won the Premier League in the 2019-20 season, we beat Chelsea 5-3. We were winning 3-0 and he scored a scrappy goal, and I thought to myself, ‘we’re winning comfortably, but he’s still scoring against me’. He is the guy that scores against me and just that annoying person.”

Giroud is France’s second-highest goalscorer at international level, and he has won trophies in every country he has played in, so there is no doubting his quality as a player.

He does possess a knack for scoring big goals and, while he isn’t blessed with a great deal of pace, he does have a goalscorer’s instinct, which means he is usually in the right place at the right time.

Van Dijk has kept the very best players at bay over the years so, while he may feel Giroud is a bogeyman, it shouldn’t be something that bothers him unduly.