Virgil Van Dijk openly challenged Netherlands manager, Louis van Gaal, this weekend. And we think Jurgen Klopp will love what he heard from his Liverpool player.
Speaking after Holland beat Denmark 4-2 in a friendly on Saturday evening, Van Dijk questioned the tactics of the team.
“Of course, we are playing in a new system, different things are required of the players. I think we showed a lot of good things,” said Virgil via Goal.
“Do I like the system? Well, I’m still in favour of 4-3-3 but I’m not the national coach and the national coach has a very strong opinion about it.”
The leader at the back
It’s rare to hear a player being so open about his dislike for a tactical system. Seeing as Van Dijk is the captain of the team no less, it’s a bit of a shock to hear him call-out his manager in such a way.
But it just goes to show the strength of personality that Liverpool’s centre-back has. Klopp is well-known for preferring to have people around who will question his decisions rather than follow them blindly.
If Van Dijk’s comments here are anything to go by, he won’t sit quietly by if he thinks Klopp, or his teammates, can be doing something differently.
It’s another example of just how big a presence Virgil is for Liverpool. When he missed near enough the whole of last season, of course The Reds missed his abilities as a footballer first and foremost – any team in world football would be better with, rather than without, Van Dijk.
But his leadership qualities mean that he was missed twice as hard. As well as being the undisputed leader of the defence, he obviously has strong ideas about how the team should be playing.
Thankfully for Klopp and Liverpool, Virgil has been back to best this season. The manager called the way the 30-year-old has responded to last season’s set-back ‘incredible’ just last month via liverpoolfc.com.
Taking on King Louis
It takes a strong personality to go against a manager like van Gaal. He has an incredible CV and has worked with some of the best footballers in history.
He is also famously direct and tends to butt heads with those who resist his rigid tactical ideas. It remains to be seen whether this will have a negative impact on the relationship of the coach and his captain.
“I know he (Van Dijk) has that preference, he always said this publicly,” the 70-year-old said via Goal in response to Van Dijk. “We already had this debate when I came here. The manager decides the tactics.”
Klopp will be pleased to hear that one of his key players is advocating his favourite system whilst away from the club.
But more than anything, we think he’ll be delighted to see this show of personality from one of the most influential players at the club.
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