Virgil van Dijk’s most heart-warming moments occur when the cameras are off.
The deep conversations he has with team-mates, the encouraging words he offers to youngsters, the interactions with people around the world and the memorable moments he creates for supporters.
It’s all part of his duty as captain of Liverpool and the Netherlands, positions he takes incredibly seriously.
Before the European Championships this summer the defender crafted a personalised letter for the members of the Dutch team, each one relevant, motivating and unique.
The defender wore the armband for the 100th time against Arsenal last Sunday, and has claimed victory in 71 of those matches. When there was concern over the future at Liverpool in the light of Jurgen Klopp’s exit, Van Dijk stayed calm and was a galvanising presence. Since Arne Slot’s summer arrival, Van Dijk has added another layer to his leadership.
As he approaches a decade of service for his country — with 77 caps to show for it — and continues his seventh season at Anfield, it would be easy for Van Dijk to skip the little extras and focus on himself. But the 33-year-old is showing no signs of slowing.
He has evolved through subtle changes on and off the pitch. He had just nine days of training with Slot before the season started, but that was enough to prove the head coach wrong.
“Before I worked with Virgil, I always said I no longer believe in the concept of a leader,” Slot said about his skipper this week in an interview with Viaplay. “But Virgil is someone who constantly makes sure the boys are there and is the leader in coaching. He also gives a good example of how to stand on a training field and what you have to do in the gym.”
Van Dijk has his own staff who help maintain his fitness, nutrition and recovery and he has said he feels as fit as ever. He has also taken his game to a new level to meet Slot’s demands of building attacks from the defence.
One specific change has become central to the team’s plans — the way Van Dijk bypasses opponents with line-splitting passes out of defence.
Slot initially envisaged Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi, the club’s top summer target, as the main receiver of these passes after starring in a holding role for his club in La Liga, but he was not interested in a move.
Ryan Gravenberch, the most improved player in the team, has since taken the holding midfield role and made it his own. The Dutchman has received 73 forward passes from Van Dijk — the most forward-passing combination between two players in the Premier League this season, with the next highest being Van Dijk to Alexis Mac Allister on 50. It’s these figures that point to key changes.
It should not be underestimated just how good the quality of those passes to Gravenberch have been. As they are perfectly angled, it allows the midfielder to open up his body — and occasionally produce the ‘Gravenberch turn’ — which has also become a useful attacking tool.
If the pass is too square, or directed to the wrong foot, Gravenberch would have to take another touch or turn back and slow down — and that goes against Slot’s plans to pounce through the middle at speed, a controlled change to the system for this season.
Unsurprisingly, Van Dijk has had little trouble adapting to a new way of working as he has never been short of technical quality.
“It has been a big change for me because we played a certain way under Jurgen and very successfully,” Van Dijk said to reporters recently. “Things have changed in having more responsibility for starting attacks and I am enjoying it. It is something I can show and it is a surprise for people to see me doing it, but it was always there. It is another string to my bow.”
By looking at Van Dijk’s passes last season in comparison to this campaign, we can see the main difference.
Using a cluster analysis, which statistically groups similar pass types together based on their start and end points on the pitch, it’s clear that there were more short and simple sideways passes to his fellow centre-back, or commonly out to the left touchline to the full-back (Andy Robertson/Joe Gomez/Kostas Tsimikas), last season.
This season, many of those common passes remain, but the addition is that fizzed forward pass to Gravenberch, the fourth-most common pass type this season. Van Dijk is also playing 40 per cent of his passes forward, his highest rate since the 2018-19 season, which highlights his responsibility to drive progressive play.
Liverpool’s ability to vary their build-up, with Van Dijk now a key contributor, has played a part in the brilliant start to the season.
The captain’s presence and positivity around the training ground are important — for example, he likes to watch some of the younger teams in action in the academy nearby and goes out of his way to offer words of support — emphasising the importance of extending his contract, which expires at the end of the season.
As one of the most marketable footballers in the world, Liverpool use him front and centre to promote the club and their partners. Featuring in a whole host of his own endeavours, from music and underwear to alcohol-free beer, he still gets the balance right between on and off-field activity.
This once-in-a-lifetime signing, even deep into his career, has shown he can go up another level.
(Top photo: Maja Hitji/Getty Images)
