Van Dijk enjoys Reds’ blend of youth and talent
Virgil van Dijk is excited by Liverpool’s blend of youth and experience, hoping it can propel them to glory this season.
The Dutchman was named as the Reds’ new captain this summer following the departure of Jordan Henderson, who was among a number of long-serving players to leave Anfield.
This season has seen Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp blood young talents like 17-year-old Ben Doak and 20-yearold Jarell Quansah along with new signings Alexis MacAllister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch.
Van Dijk said: “I don’t see it as a challenge. Things happen for a reason. Players move on and new players come in. Players get new roles – that’s an exciting thing.
“The leadership group has changed, the players have different responsibilities outside the pitch. Everyone is enjoying their roles at the moment and the team spirit is very high.
“The squad we have at the moment looks very exciting. We have the quality to make it difficult for every team.”
Van Dijk enjoys helping guide the younger members of the squad, saying: “You feel a responsibility. I know exactly how I was when I came up the ranks.
“It’s never easy and, as one of the experienced guys, I want to help them where I can. Obviously you don’t need to hold their hands, but you need to make sure they’re able to perform in the best way possible.”
The Reds certainly seem to have turned a corner after last season’s struggles, winning seven games in a row in all competitions prior to last weekend’s controversial loss to Tottenham.
Van Dijk admits it was initially tough to move on following Luis Diaz’s wrongly disallowed goal and red cards for Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota, but he said: “It’s part of life. It’s difficult, but life gives you challenges so you have to deal with it.
“You definitely can take a lot of positives out of that game. It’s quite difficult when you lose to see the positive things immediately and that was definitely a difficult period after the game but a couple of days later you analyse certain things.”
Next up for Liverpool is a trip today to Brighton, who will be looking for a response of their own after last weekend’s 6-1 hammering by Villa.
“It’s not really about showing a reaction – it’s just trying to play the best game that you can do at that time,” said Van Dijk. “It’s the last game before the international br eak, so we want to finish this part of the season well.
“They’re a very good team with a very good manager, a clear style of play and it’s always been difficult the games we’ve played against them.”