Despite their disappointing end to the campaign, Liverpool can take a lot of positives from what was Virgil van Dijk’s first season as the team’s captain.
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It has been a frustrating end to what looked like a promising campaign for Liverpool. Following Jurgen Klopp’s announcement midway through the season that he would step down from his role as manager in the summer, the players were determined to give him a fitting goodbye. At that point, Liverpool were fighting for a quadruple. They started by winning the Carabao Cup, beating Chelsea in the extra time of the final.
However, everything went downhill from there. Against the odds, an injury-hit Manchester United side defeated Liverpool 4-3 in the extra time of the FA Cup quarter-final. Not long after, the Reds lost valuable points in the Premier League and subsequently lost the top spot in the table. Soon, they were also eliminated by Atalanta in the Europa League quarter-final. Eventually, Liverpool ended the season on third place in the league table.
Despite their disappointing end to the campaign, Liverpool can take a lot of positives from what was Virgil van Dijk’s first season as the team’s captain. After Jordan Henderson departed the club last summer, the Dutchman was named as his successor. Van Dijk has been at the club for a long period and is massively respected in the group. It is also a role he is quite familiar with since he is the skipper of his national team. His centre-back partner Joe Gomez spoke highly about van Dijk and how things have been under his leadership.
“100 per cent [proud]. I’m incredibly happy for him. I can’t put it into words. I know what it means for him, and I really get to see the inside and how things sometimes are tough. It’s a massively pressured position to be in; following Hendo’s footsteps after the year we had, a lot of unknowns and uncertainties, the way Virg has just stepped up and just taken every responsibility that comes with it,” he told The Anfield Wrap.
The defender added: “The little things that people might not see in a training ground when you need to make decisions or enforce moments when it’s like, ‘Lads, we need to be better at this’ or it might be timekeeping, it might be different things that you don’t want to slip out of place. Virg has done it in his own way, and it’s made him even more appreciated amongst us as a team. His ability speaks for itself; he’s the best at what he does, he’s the best in the world and probably the best the club has ever had in that position.”
Gomez continued to praise his skipper and expressed his happiness in the way the Dutch defender had taken over the responsibility. “But the way he has handled it off the pitch as a leader, and on the pitch, in moments when we’ve had tough defeats and it’s not even hesitation, he’ll step up and go and speak and represent us all and how we feel. It’s been a joy to watch, he has taken it more than in his stride. I’m so happy for him and I’m sure he’s incredibly proud to be captain of his country and his club. The way he does it speaks for itself,” he stated.
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