Virgil van Dijk rarely puts a foot wrong, yet it was his outstretched leg that brought down Aleksandar Mitrovic to concede a penalty against Fulham last weekend.
It was a crucial moment. Following Darwin Nunez’s equaliser, Liverpool were on top. Now another mountain needed climbing.
Van Dijk coming up against an opponent one-on-one is not uncommon. His ability to win these battles is why he is classed by many as the best defender in the world.
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Against Mitrovic, Van Dijk suffered a rare defeat, realising it midway through his attempted challenge but fractionally too late, making contact with the Fulham striker while trying to pull his leg out of the way.
It was an uncharacteristic error from the 31-year-old, but it is more peculiar because tackling is not something we see Van Dijk do often. According to FBref, he averages 0.64 tackles per 90, putting him in the second-lowest percentile when compared to fellow centre-backs.
That is partly because he plays in one of the two dominant Premier League teams and is required to do less defending, but also because he usually takes charge and handles those types of situations so well without needing to make a tackle.
It led The Athletic to think about why tackling, especially in the box, is seen as a last resort and how difficult it is to get right. Get it wrong and the consequences are well-known.
Tackling is a risk Premier League defenders are beginning to realise, reflected by the numbers of tackles being attempted in a side’s defensive third. At the end of the 2009-10 season, it was 2.42 per game. By the end of the 2021-22 campaign, it decreased to less than 2.05.
That is consistent with the declining number of tackles being attempted in the defensive box. The graph below shows how often a defensive team attempts a tackle in their own penalty area per number of touches their opponent has in the box. The trend is clear.
Compared to the end of the 2009-10 season (0.12 tackles per touch), the number of tackles defenders are attempting has decreased to 0.08 tackles per touch. It suggests defenders are increasingly aware of the dangers and are therefore less likely to attempt a tackle, instead trying to manipulate the situation to their advantage by jockeying and positioning their body to react to attackers’ movements.
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“Most defenders, and especially Van Dijk, don’t really want to make a tackle,” says former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha. “Tackling in the box is something you especially want to avoid.”
To go back to the penalty, the situation originated from a poor pass from Joel Matip, which gifted possession to Fulham and allowed Mitrovic to find himself one-on-one.
Van Dijk has been faced with this situation many times before given Liverpool’s high-risk defensive line and looks relaxed as Mitrovic drives forwards.
Defenders can be aggressive or patient and Van Dijk predominantly falls into the latter category. He does not race out to Mitrovic, he waits to engage. In these situations, the centre-back watches the opponent’s eyes, rather than their feet, trying to set traps so he is in control.
Former Everton defender Alan Stubbs tells The Athletic: “You, as the defender, want to dictate, so it’s all about your starting position. If you are too central, you give them the option of going left or right. If you want him to go left, you have to come harder down one side, forcing them to go the way you want them to go.”
Being patient, however, can create problems.
“If you don’t get out to the attacker quickly enough they can control the attack,” says Onuoha. “They might be able to run at you from 10 yards and build a head of steam, which you don’t want.”
It is exactly what Mitrovic does. With Van Dijk not immediately confronting him, the striker directs his run towards goal.
Van Dijk begins to backpedal but is offered a glimpse of the ball; enough for him to attempt a challenge.
The Premier League has only got quicker. Strikers are more agile and technical, making life difficult for defenders. Little contact is required for players to go down and penalties to be awarded. With the assistance of the Video Assistant Referee, the fine line defenders tread when making a tackle is even more perilous.
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“There are players who are good at luring you in,” says Onuoha. “Jack Grealish is very good at dangling the ball out there to the point that the defender believes he can get it, but then he is quicker at pulling it away and it’s a foul.”
Van Dijk’s initial attempted tackle is with his left foot but Mitrovic, with his close control, is too quick for him and manoeuvers the ball to the side.
The Dutchman’s body position, shown below, is still leaning backwards. Therefore, as he instinctively tries to win the ball with his back leg, it is a hopeful swing rather than an assertive movement.
“The moment you are square on, your body weight is wrong. If an attacker slows down and goes again, if you are square, your body can’t react to the speed attacking players can move at,” says former England international Matthew Upson. “I think Van Dijk got square because of his initial burst to cover. By the time he faced up, Mitrovic was already in his stride and that’s the situation you never want to be in. That’s when desperation can set in for any defender and the easiest thing to do is stick a leg out.”
Van Dijk’s body shape and weight balance means he does not have the required momentum to be assertive with his challenge. He is leaning backwards so his weight is on his back leg, not allowing him to be proactive.
In these situations, Van Dijk aims to hold the opposition player up, allowing his team-mates to recover and offer support. In this instance, Trent Alexander-Arnold is providing that cover and may well have been better placed to take the ball off Mitrovic following his touch past the Dutchman.
Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka found himself in a similar situation against Manchester City last season. Covering defensively, he is left one-on-one with Bernardo Silva, who is driving into the box.
Xhaka is immediately on the back foot and Silva displays quick footwork, offering Xhaka a glimpse of the ball before changing direction.
The Arsenal midfielder’s body is leaning backwards so, after his initial tackle, he is caught square on and off balance. He dangles his left leg out, bringing down Bernardo.
Attempting to block a shot or trying to delay is better than the instinctive desperate challenges Xhaka and Van Dijk displayed.
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Going by expected goals (xG), the likelihood of a goal is much higher from the penalty spot than where Mitrovic was positioned. If Van Dijk had not attempted the tackle, he may have been able to block any shot, or at the very least reduce the angle and trust his goalkeeper to do the rest.
Mitrovic may have dragged a shot wide or aimed straight at Alisson while under pressure from Alexander-Arnold. Instead, he got a free effort from 12 yards.
“In training, when we used to do three v two, if I was the left centre-back and the ball went out to the attacker on the right, the mantra was always to show him down the line. If you’ve done that, even if he gets a shot off, you’ll back your keeper not to get beaten at his near post,” says Onuoha.
The best way to show how it should be done is by… well, watching Van Dijk. Two examples from last season, below, demonstrate why he is usually so good as he does not attempt a tackle in either.
In the first example, from May’s home game with Tottenham, Van Dijk finds himself one-on-one with Steven Bergwijn, who looks like he is in control of the situation as he advances towards the box.
Note the defender’s body position compared to the scenario against Fulham — he is low and side-on to his opponent rather than square and flat-footed, setting the trap to get into a race with his compatriot. Van Dijk backs himself to win most races against attackers.
“The things you try to get right are your distances,” Upson says. “That will determine how close you can get and whether to try to make a challenge or to funnel a player into an area that is the safest or the best scenario for that situation, whether that be on their wrong foot or at a wider angle.
“You want to be side-on, showing him down one side and having your shoulder facing the way you want your opponent to go so when the ball gets knocked in that direction, you are in a position to make a tackle, step across them or lean on them to put the player off. Van Dijk historically has been outstanding at that. The fact he never usually makes tackles shows that.”
Support from Ibrahima Konate makes going inside difficult, but the defender is encouraging Bergwijn to go left. He doesn’t attempt a challenge, instead waiting for movement; Van Dijk is balanced so he can also accelerate with Bergwijn and use his strength to ease him off the ball.
Similarly, on the opposite flank against Jarrod Bowen (during Liverpool’s visit to West Ham), he is patient, positioning himself to make it difficult for the winger to cut inside.
With the same body position and balance, he is encouraging Bowen to go down the line.
His body position is pointed towards where his opponent will dribble, giving him an advantage because he does not have to adjust his body or change direction, he just has to accelerate and ease Bowen off the ball.
Even the best can make mistakes but in the Premier League, when fine margins mean so much, it is why defenders try to refrain from tackling in the box. There is too much risk to it.
(Top photo: Getty Images)
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