The world’s most expensive defender says his new club are the ‘perfect fit’ since joining from Southampton
The world’s most expensive defender happens to be one of the calmest but it is not merely Virgil van Dijk’s unflappable nature that explains his confidence in Liverpool’s mission at Manchester City.
At the Etihad Campus on Monday Van Dijk was asked whether the fit‑again Sergio Agüero could cause Liverpool more problems than Gabriel Jesus. “If we defend the way we did the other night against them, it does not matter who plays as a striker,” came the reply. City require something special to ruffle this Liverpooldefence.
Liverpool, said Van Dijk, are “the perfect fit” for the centre-half who ignored interest from their Champions League opponents on Tuesday and Chelsea to move to Anfield for £75m in January. “I love the club already,” the Netherlands international said. In Jürgen Klopp he has found “the complete manager” and in his new team‑mates the 26-year-old has absolute faith that his pursuit of silverware will be satisfied. That quest continues at the Etihad Stadium, where Klopp’s team take a 3-0 lead into the quarter-final second leg.
Any Liverpool fan fretting that this may not be enough against Pep Guardiola’s prolific yet vulnerable team would have nerves soothed, massaged and oiled by a few minutes in Van Dijk’s company.
“I’m never nervous,” the Liverpool defender said of the return against City. “I am just excited. I think: ‘Look where I am, playing for the semi-finals of the Champions League with my team. Just enjoy it and love it,’ We are 3-0 up in a massive game, our fans are going to be ready and it is a great place to play. It is a fantastic opportunity.
“I always have been calm, sometimes a little too much. Sometimes that cost me back in the day, to be fair. What we do as players is something you need to enjoy. If everything goes well, I will play until I’m 36 or 37 hopefully and then football is over, so just enjoy it. That is why I started to play football and why I wanted to do it day in, day out. Sometimes you lose but, if you win, the feeling is amazing.”
Van Dijk had that winning feeling after only 20 minutes of the first leg at Anfield last week, when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain swept Liverpool’s second goal beyond Ederson and into the Kop net. He admits: “At 2-0 I had that feeling a bit, with the fans and the way we played. I felt we would keep pushing and pushing and then when you score the third before half-time it is a bit strange sitting in the dressing room 3-0 up against City.
“They have not been 3-0 down at all this season but we still had to get ready for the second half and for the game here. At 2-0 there was a feeling we were doing something special and we need to keep going.”Hopefully we will be celebrating again after this game.
The Dutch defender’s contentment and confidence in Liverpool is reciprocated. Klopp’s team have kept seven clean sheets in the 13 games that Van Dijk has played for the club – two in the two Champions League ties he has started so far – and they denied City, the highest scoring side in the Premier League, a single shot on target at Anfield last week.
“I don’t take credit on my own for that,” Van Dijk says of his impact. “It is the whole way we defend. If you look closely at what the three up front do collectively and then the guys behind, it makes it so much easier for us. Then obviously there is Loris [Karius] as the last line. The guys up front put the work in which is magnificent.
“Overall, the left-back, right-back, centre-backs, Loris, midfielders and forwards are putting in the work, and then on the training field with the manager. Everyone around us is fantastic and should be proud of how we defend and how many goals we have scored. Without the help of everyone else Mo [Salah] would not have so many goals. Everyone is doing their bit.”
Van Dijk insists on collective credit for Liverpool’s defensive improvement but admits he relishes the responsibility of being the man whom team-mates and fans will turn to should Agüero, Jesus or another City player open the scoring at the Etihad Stadium. “I like pressure anyway,” he adds. “You want the challenge and to have every day that feeling you need to push yourself, otherwise it becomes a little bit boring. I think with Liverpool every day is a challenge in training. You are playing against one of the best strikers in Europe.
“I am enjoying every bit of it. It makes me keep going and will make me better every day. I want to sit down when I am retired and think I did everything possible to get the best out of myself, not to be thinking: ‘I should have done that or worked a little bit harder.’ I think everything is possible.”
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário