Van Dijk: My one regret in Liverpool’s quest for perfect Klopp farewell

Captain remorseful about comment made in aftermath of emotional Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea

In a season in which he has barely put a foot wrong, Virgil van Dijk has one regret.
In the Wembley dressing room having lifted the Carabao Cup, with a camera capturing a personal, reflective moment, Liverpool’s skipper momentarily let his guard down.
“And they thought I was finished,” he said.
A few weeks on Van Dijk winces at the remark
“I shouldn’t have said that,” he says.
Why?
“Because I don’t want to have the wrong intentions. That was part of the emotion coming out of me because there were so many emotions going through my whole body that day.”
Van Dijk after score and win Carabao Cup: ‘They thought I was finished 😏’ #Virgil #VanDijk #Liverpool pic.twitter.com/DD1pzrysGG
Van Dijk’s comment was undoubtedly a pointed response to the criticism he received last year, when many wondered if his best was behind him, the impact of knee ligament surgery in 2020 catching up.
Now back to his peerless best, he acknowledges why doubts surfaced.
“Last season was disappointing. Not disappointing in a way that I was bad, I didn’t feel like that at all, I was just below my standards and the consistency wasn’t there that I have had and set for myself in each and every game,” says Van Dijk.
“I fully understand the noise that came with it, but I am a human being and not immune to any of that, so there was a bit of emotion that day but I shouldn’t have said that [to camera].
“Maybe in one way it was good to say because it gets it out of me, but I don’t like noise around me. The break helped massively in the summer and that brought me into good shape.”
Van Dijk believes his return to form began a year ago, when Trent Alexander-Arnold’s positional tweak reinforced Liverpool’s midfield protection ahead of last summer’s revamp of the central zone.
But he also attributes it to a work ethic off the pitch which began before his move to Liverpool – focusing on the details which are the key to longevity, such as a personal physio and private chef.
Van Dijk has exchanged messages with NBL superstar (and Fenway Sports Group stakeholder) LeBron James, and cites Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Tom Brady as inspirations who have shown age is no barrier to elite excellence.
“We have had messages passed between us,” says Van Dijk of LeBron.
“I look at all the top athletes at the highest level because I feel like they all have a big role, either as a big role model or for their team and community, and there are so many things you can learn. The way they conduct themselves on the pitch or on court, also what they do in order to be great.
“I like to listen to these guys and learn how they dealt with being at the top and dealing with difficult moments, but also good moments.”
Lebron’s slogan ‘strive for greatness’ has particularly resonated.
“That phrase that he uses is perfect and it could be used for a lot of things,” says Van Dijk.
“For me personally I definitely try to follow that because I want to achieve the most I can in life and get the maximum out of myself, the team and the position we are in.
“We are in a good place to do that this season – again. Every season is always a challenge but this season we are in a special situation. There are no guarantees but we feel like it is quite special with the way we have overcome things as a group, situations like the news of the manager, at the start of the season all the red cards, how we dealt with the injuries, and we cannot forget the young boys. It has been a special season so far and now we have to see how it ends.”
Liverpool and Van Dijk will be back at Wembley if they beat Manchester United on Sunday, an FA Cup semi-final beckoning to go with a quarter-final against Atalanta in the Europa League.
“There are a lot of things that just clicked again,” he says.
“I feel really, really good and the responsibility I have has helped that. I feel that I have made steps again. I want to continue enjoying it and see what it leads to.”