‘He was going to grill me!’: Liverpool player admits he had to ignore Klopp in one game this season

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‘I really enjoy that’: Virgil van Dijk claims Liverpool man is always shouting and really cares

Virgil van Dijk says he loves one thing Jurgen Klopp tends to do in Liverpool games. The manager certainly has a reputation.

Virgil van Dijk was Gary Neville’s guest this week as the pundit delivered 19 questions for Liverpool’s star defender. One topic that naturally came up was Jurgen Klopp – and how he shouts at players.

It’s not exactly a secret that Klopp can be aggressive on the touchline and, to be fair, most top managers are. Van Dijk admits that while he did try to ignore the boss in one game this season, he does enjoy it for the most part.

“He shouts a lot,” said the Dutchman. “The thing I like is that when someone does that it’s because they really care about you or the situation and want to make sure it improves or get anyone else sharper. I really enjoy that in a certain way and it helps me personally.

“I think when we played Fulham at the start of the season. In the last five minutes I was trying to go more direct and he was shouting at me that we had to play a little bit more.

“I knew he was shouting at the side so I wasn’t looking at him because I know for a fact he was going to grill me!”

Jurgen Klopp in games

Referees don’t like the shouting, it turns out, so at least Van Dijk does. We can completely understand trying not to make eye contact when you’ve gone against his instructions, then.

That’s an inevitable part of leadership in football, though. Liverpool count on Van Dijk to guide the team on the pitch and often, he’ll have different ideas to Klopp. You’ll inevitably get clashes when that happens – all is well as long as the players are the ones backing down.

And it seems like Klopp firmly has that kind of respect from Van Dijk. Not that anyone will be surprised by that but it’s still nice to see. The boss has built a squad that completely respects and understands what he’s trying to do.

That, above all, is perhaps the most significant reason for Liverpool’s success under Klopp.