Following Jordan Henderson’s exit from Anfield in the summer, Liverpool appointed Virgil van Dijk as their new captain for this season.
Speaking to Algemeen Dagblad, the defender has expressed his delight after Jürgen Klopp’s decision to hand him the armband.
The Netherlands international has impressed this season and helped Liverpool to currently have the best defensive record [conceded 16 goals from 19 games] in the league.
The 32-year-old has explained why Klopp’s key decision to make him as the Merseyside club’s captain has pleased him.
“Yes, of course that felt like a show of appreciation and trust. Also, because the manager knows me well: in some periods of the season, we see each other more often than our families,” he said.
“When it comes to leadership, I honestly care most about how my coaches or fellow players see it. I think they can judge that best. I really enjoy that captain’s role.”
The former Southampton man is of the belief that he has a bigger role to play not just with Liverpool’s first team but beyond that.
“I love helping young boys to look at the bigger picture, to really be involved. I recently spent some time at a Liverpool U9 and U10 youth tournament. The U18s often train right in front of us: then I try to be at the complex. I am not only the captain of the team, but of the entire club,” Van Dijk explained.
Last year, the centre-back was regularly subject to criticism, especially in his country, for his displays for both the Reds and the national team. Van Dijk is well aware of how to deal with it and explained why he prefers to avoid responding directly to his critics.
“The problem is a bit that as a footballer you can’t say much about it anyway. If you do that once, you will immediately dance the puppets. I am a person who consciously reads little, listens or looks. I don’t keep an eye on it, I can also shut myself off,” he added.
“But through via others you still get a lot, you cannot escape that. If you are not in a nice flow and the results are disappointing.
“It doesn’t help, it seems logical to me. If criticism is severe and negative, you as an athlete can also go under. The trick is to deal with that well − and I am quite happy with how it went, especially in recent months.”
Van Dijk suffered a serious knee injury in October 2021 and that forced him to miss most part of the 2021/22 season. He has now completely put the concerns over his fitness behind him.
When AD asked if the difficult phase he experienced sporting wise after the recovery from his injury made his stronger, Van Dijk explained: “Of course you wouldn’t want to experience it. But in retrospect you can say that that period also brought me quite a lot.
“No one experiences only highlights in their career. Setbacks also shape your personality, you learn from them, because there will always be bad phases in life.”
On his form, the Dutchman said he feels “sharp” this season.
