‘I could do better’: 31-year-old Liverpool star now admits he hasn’t been playing well this season

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Liverpool defender Virgil Van Djik has admitted that he hasn’t been playing well this season.

The 31-year-old captained Holland to a 2-0 win over Poland last night. And after the game, Van Dijk opened up on his struggles with Liverpool.

“I know I could do better in the beginning, I’m not naive about that, I know very well when I make mistakes,” he said via Voetbal International. “I also know that I am one of the important players at the club and of course also here at Orange, I feel that responsibility.

“Mentally, that’s mainly a challenge. You get a lot on your roof. Many people forget that too, it is not easy to act that. We all try to show the best. In my case, if you are one of the mainstays at the club, then you get the criticism you deserve. You have to deal with that and that is not always easy, [but] I did a great job of that.”

Van Dijk looking to get back on track

During his four-and-a-half years at Liverpool so far, Van Dijk has rarely had to deal with criticism.

Instead, the defender has been showered with praise and awards. And rightly so. His consistency over his time at Anfield has been quite remarkable. The heights he’s hit have rarely been reached by centre-backs.

But that consistent brilliance is part of what has made his slump in form all the more alarming. This isn’t something we’re used to seeing from Virgil and that’s a little worrying.

Thankfully, the Dutchman is made of stern stuff. He has a great mentality and, as he points out, is a real leader for club and country.

We’re all human though. Van Dijk is allowed a few bad days at the office, he’s certainly earned the right to that. He’s also far from alone in underperforming for Liverpool this year.

Regardless, the win last night will have done him good. Poland aren’t a heavyweight by any means but they do boast the current FIFA Men’s Player of the Year holder in Robert Lewandowski.

To shackle one of the game’s great centre-forwards will hopefully have been a boost to Van Dijk’s confidence.

It will also no doubt have been pleasing for him to get one over on Polish midfielder Piotr Zielinski. The Napoli man ran riot during Liverpool’s 4-1 humbling in Naples, in which Van Dijk didn’t play at all well. Some balance restored, then. Onwards and upwards Virgil, it will only get better.

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