Since the start of the 2018/19 season, Virgil van Dijk has made 3 errors leading to goal - more than any other player in the Premier League during that time.
The centre-back was lambasted by former Aston Villa forward Gabriel Agbonlahor who called him arrogant and said that he cannot be compared to Premier League greats such as Rio Ferdinand yet.
Former Red Peter Crouch defended the Dutch international with a short but apt reply to Agbonlahor's comments.
The ex-striker tweeted: "I think he’s made one mistake in 2 years."
And here's why this stat is misleading, as explained by data analyst Dan Kennet on Twitter.
- Seven other outfield players have also made three errors during this time – note the selective phrasing of "no outfield player has made more errors…”
- He’s made four errors leading to opposition shots – 75% have been punished by goals.
- In contrast, Wolves’ Willy Boly has made nine errors leading to opposition shots – but none (0%) have resulted in goals. Leicester’s Jonny Evans has made seven, resulting in no goals, as did Tottenham’s Davinson Sanchez (leading to one goal – 14.2%).
- Van Dijk has made an error every 1801 minutes on the pitch. 184 players have made errors more frequently during that time - these include the likes of Manchester United's Harry Maguire.
To sum this up - while Van Dijk has been a little off his game since the Premier League's restart, to cherry-pick this stat and blame him for being error-prone is simply shameless agenda against the best defender in the world.
