Liverpool should ‘embrace’ a frantic run of 13 games in six weeks that begins with the visit of Arsenal on Saturday afternoon, stated Virgil van Dijk.
Follow Us
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk acknowledged the difficulties that can come during the course of a season, as the club campaign restarts following the final international pause of 2021. The Reds face a challenging period of games in three competitions heading into the New Year. Van Dijk insists the squad must ‘go for it and enjoy the moment’.
“It is [quite a lot of games], but playing games is the most beautiful thing as a football player. Just embrace it. We need everyone and everyone realises that as well. We just have to go for it, you can’t change it, you just have to enjoy it. Enjoy the moment, don’t get injured and hopefully get good results all together,” the centre-back told Liverpoolfc.com during a chat at the AXA Training Centre.
Jürgen Klopp’s men welcome a Gunners team unbeaten in their past eight Premier League matches tomorrow. Arsenal are just one place and two points behind Liverpool in the table. Van Dijk wants to see a clear response to the defeat at West Ham United a fortnight ago. He called for a confident approach to an intriguing contest this weekend.
“They are in a good moment, definitely. It’s going to be very tough. We’ll analyse them well. They have a clear plan, good players, a good team, a good manager. So we have to be very well prepared and very good to get a good result. We have to be confident. And obviously we all want to show a reaction after what happened in London,” said the No.4.
Van Dijk further expressed his happiness after the Netherlands secured qualification for the next edition of the World Cup.
“Massive, yeah – very proud. Very proud of the boys. It was quite an interesting week that we all had at the national team, obviously having a big chance to qualify already on Saturday – it was a disappointing night for all of us. I didn’t feel that bad for a long time after the game, obviously with also the responsibility I have as a captain. It was quite intense, quite tough, but the way we turned it around, focused on the task ahead and the professionalism we had was something to be very proud of and very happy about, of course. It means so much. Playing a World Cup is something special, in my opinion – I think. Obviously I didn’t play one so far. But to be able to participate after being out for so long, it’s something I’m looking forward to. Looking forward to with this group of boys and all the hard work we put in and the progress we have made over the last years as well, and to be back where we all wanted to be. And hopefully perform and do well as well,” he said.
The Liverpool defender further admitted that getting a chance to play in big tournaments like the World Cup, provides moments that make it worth to play the game.
“Definitely. Every day you work so hard towards success. In this case, obviously we worked so hard to qualify for the tournament and especially after what happened on Saturday with us, it was such a relief, such a good feeling we all had. And that goes also with the club, we work every day so hard to hopefully be at the end of the season with some silverware. We’ll see if that will be the case,” he said.
