The Silence Before The Storm: On Joel Matip's Importance To Liverpool | Israel today

Last week, in SKY SPORT's cycle summary program, commentators Jamie Krager and Gary Neville put together the top 11 from Manchester United and Liverpool ahead of tonight's big meeting.

Krager, the former Liverpool brake, of course chose the Reds' brake. But it was not Virgil Van Dyke, but Joel Matip. "I think he's better than Van Dyke at this point in the season," Krager explained of the choice; "The problem is that he's always under the radar. He's not a big name either, he's arrived on a free transfer, he's been here a long time and he's injured a lot. But every time he plays, he's at the highest level, really."

All true.

Matip arrived in 2016 from Schalke on a free transfer, and has since missed 95 games due to injuries.

In the championship season his legs lasted nine league games, last season ten games, but this season there is a feeling that the 30-year-old brake is more capable and stronger than ever.

In the Premier League he is a partner in all games except Ahadma Konata, and in the Champions League he played all 270 minutes, including the tough 90 against Atletico Madrid last week.

"He has suffered in the past from bad luck with injuries," Jürgen Klopp referred to last month;

"But he's always been amazing to us since he came."

Matip vs. Watford.

Very much loved by his friends, Photo: IPI

"He has magic"

To the question of what made Matip look so good this season there is no real answer.

After injuring his ankle in early 2021 and missing the entire second half of the previous season, he simply took the time to recover and returned with renewed strength to the pre-season games.

The ability he has shown since the start of the season is one of the main reasons why Liverpool will come up against Manchester United from second place in the table and when they have conceded just six goals this season, and another reason for Matip's status as a cult hero for the team's fans.

One of them, who wanted to make the Cameroonian brake free of social networks accessible, decided in 2019 to open a Twitter page dedicated to Matip and showing his videos from training and games.

In one of them, Matip is compared to Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, because they both like to go on adventures whose end is unknown.

In an interview with "THE ATHLETIC", the founder of the page that opened it said that "Matip does not look like someone who is supposed to be a good brake. He does not have Van Dyke's body, but he has a charm that makes everyone love him."

The one who really likes Matip, and the Twitter page that has been set up for him, is Van Dyke.

The Dutch stopper always responds to tweets related to his defensive friend and recently arrived at the training complex with a shirt with a portrait of Matip on it.

Above all, it is clear that there is a special relationship between the two on and off the field.

"He's a special person we all appreciate," Van Dyke said earlier this month;

"He is an example of how to take life - easily, pleasantly and in proportion."

This season, the ease with which Matip takes things - from the incredible expatriates conquered by Muhammad Salah to the task of keeping Romulo Lukaku - has made him one that Liverpool fans enjoy fiddling with, and at the same time one that is hugely appreciated.

After years of being a kind of sub-player in Liverpool's plot, Matip of the start of the season is a major player for all intents and purposes.

And what better way than to give a big show against Manchester United at Old Trafford.