Cardiff City Boss Neil Warnock Makes Dubious Statement About Virgil Van Dijk's Defensive Quality

Never one to shy away from making questionable calls, Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock has come out with another bizarre proclamation. 

The Bluebirds' boss is of the opinion that his man, Sol Bamba, is a better all round defender than Liverpool's £75m powerhouse Virgil Van Dijk. 

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While this may be hard to process for many who have seen both players, the 69-year-old has far more experience in the game than most. Without being disrespectful, this sort of hot take could suggest age is creeping up on him. 

Speaking to talkSPORT, Warnock said that Bamba, — who was released on a free by Leeds in 2016 — has better defensive qualities than the Dutchman: “I think Van Dijk has got better attributes on the ball than Sol Bamba but I don’t think he is a better defender.

“I think Sol Bamba is slightly better than Van Dijk defensive-wise. I think Van Dijk has got more confidence on the ball and looks easier on the eye, but I don’t think he is better defensively.”

When the station later caught up with Bamba, the Ivorian suggested his manager may have got just a tad unruly: “That was the gaffer being the gaffer.

“He got carried away. I wouldn’t have said that. Definitely not.”

As for Van Dijk, Warnock also revealed to talkSPORT that he wanted to bring the defender in from Celtic when manager of Crystal Palace. Even with the Hoops quoting a bargain figure at that time, Warnock's chief scout disagreed with his assessment:  “When I was at Palace, it was difficult to sign players.

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“I went after the centre-half at Celtic, Van Dijk, and they wanted £6million. I said ‘We have got to buy him, don’t we?'

“The chief scout went to watch him and said, 'He is not very quick, it’s Scottish football.' That was before Southampton came in for him.”