Virgil van Dijk has made the interesting claim that he needs to be more clinical after Liverpool’s pre-season loss to Bayern Munich.
Speaking to LFCTV, the new Anfield captain said that he is working on his goalscoring ability despite being a centre-back and already being one of the most feared defenders for opposing teams in set-piece situations.
Van Dijk was on the scoresheet in Liverpool’s 4-3 loss to Bayern, yet the defender said when asked about his goal: “In my opinion, I should be more clinical at times. That’s what I’m working on. It was really nice to score.”
To say Van Dijk’s self-assessment is interesting would be an understatement, especially with the defender already quite the threat for Liverpool in his many years at the club.
Indeed, the defender can’t do more than what’s given to him in set-piece situations, which Van Dijk expertly executed against Bayern thus week.
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Whilst Van Dijk working on his finishing is a promising thought, there’s little the defender can do unless the service provided is up to a world-class standard, which it has been this pre-season.
Van Dijk could be a real goalscoring threat for Liverpool next season
Liverpool have taken their set-piece quality to impressive levels this summer, and Van Dijk could soon find himself as quite the weapon for the Reds if this standard continues.
As we know, the Anfield side have invested big on midfielders this summer with exceptional dead-ball qualities, something Van Dijk can benefit from immensely in the new season.
Of course, we’re not expecting Van Dijk to hit double digits, but the defender adding even more goals to his game could be an outstanding asset for Liverpool in their quest to return to the top-four and to compete for silverware.