Liverpool Captain-Elect Says Captain Things

Virgil van Dijk shared his thoughts on last night’s draw with Leicester.

It may have felt disappointing — particularly with Manchester City dropping the ball at Newcastle, giving the Reds a chance to go seven points up — but Liverpool’s draw with Leicester was, on balance of play, not a bad result at all. Despite giving up a goal and two massive chances in the opening five minutes, the Foxes did exceptionally well to limit their hosts’ opportunities, and crafted enough chances for themselves to earn at least one point.

Leave it to Virgil van Dijk — currently the Reds’ third-choice captain, but in all likelihood Jürgen Klopp’s favourite to lead the team from next season on — to accurately and pragmatically sum it all up.

“Disappointment is not the right word,” the centre-back told the club’s official site. “We started amazingly with the goal from Sadio and then it was a tough game against a good opponent.

“We don’t need to forget that as well, they are just a good team.

“The pitch was horrendous,” he continued. “It was full of ice but they need to deal with that as well. We had most of the ball and it was difficult to break them down. At times we were dangerous but in the end it wasn’t enough to score a goal.

“What was missing? A bit of luck I think, a bit of extra edge maybe that we sometimes have a little bit more of. There are a lot of circumstances that played a part.”

Indeed, the lack of an ‘extra edge’ rings true, as the Reds’ frontline, normally so lethal, struggled to put together anything of note, producing only 14 touches combined inside the opposition area after the opening five minutes, and generating two shots. It is difficult to claim that the Reds’ attackers are misfiring — they have five goals between them in the last two matches — but nonetheless, fans will hope that the trio will rediscover some of the fluency that made them Europe’s most feared frontline last season, ideally against West Ham on Monday.

Regardless, van Dijk has no intention of focusing on anything other than the next game, urging players and fans to drive each other on.

“Obviously everyone wants to win so bad and that’s what we want as well but sometimes you need to be very patient.

“We want everyone to cheer us on and keep pushing even if we have tough moments, even if we’re 1-0 down or maybe more. We just need everyone to pull in the same direction and keep going, that’s the only way forward.”

No rocket science here, none needed.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com