Arne Slot has now had half a season working with the Liverpool squad, and unsurprisingly Virgil van Dijk is among the players to have particularly caught his eye.
The 33-year-old took over the captaincy of the Reds’ first team the summer before last following Jordan Henderson’s departure, and the centre-back has since been rejuvenated by consistently producing performance levels close to his exceptional first two years at Anfield.
The Netherlands international has only six months remaining on his current contract, but if his boss gets his way, he’ll be penning a new deal promptly.
In his pre-match press conference on Friday, Slot was asked what makes Van Dijk such a special player, with the 46-year-old replying that he was wowed by the defender from the very first training session that he had in charge of Liverpool.
The head coach added (via liverpoolfc.com): “He’s also the one that leads the team from start to finish, and by start to finish I mean if we go out on the training ground, the moment I blow my whistle and the exercise starts, I will hear for sure one player and that’s Virgil.
“He brings a lot of positive energy to the club as well and a lot of positive energy in the group. He’s done really well but that is also the standard at this club. If you don’t perform like this then you’re not good enough anymore to play for this club.”
The sight of Van Dijk organising the players around him during matches has become very familiar to Liverpool fans, and he seemed the logical choice to replace Henderson as captain in 2023.
When the Reds played Greuther Furth in a behind-closed-doors friendly that summer, he could be heard bellowing instructions to his teammates throughout the match, with his natural leadership coming to the fore.
As the oldest player in the current squad and a vocal leader who sets standards both on and off the pitch, the Dutchman has proven to be a commanding presence who any manager could trust to skipper their team.
For how much longer Van Dijk will be captain of Liverpool is another matter, with no resoluton yet on his contract situation as the clock ticks uncomfortably towards its expiry date.
As per Melissa Reddy in recent weeks, the 33-year-old is understood to be keen on remaining a Reds player, so it’s probably just a matter of him and the club reaching a mutually satisfactory agreement on a prospective new deal.
Hopefully any uncertainty over his future can soon be put to bed and that, for another couple of years at least, Slot will continue to hear the defender’s voice from the moment he steps onto the training pitch!
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