What Virgil van Dijk said to Liverpool’s players in the Anfield tunnel just before kick-off against Man City

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Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk might well have had his best game for the club on Sunday.

We know, that’s a very high bar indeed. But we honesty think Van Dijk’s display against Manchester City is right up there with anything he’s ever turned in for the Reds.

Playing alongside Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah and Caoimhin Kelleher against perhaps the best team in the world, Virgil had to step up. The Dutchman couldn’t even rely upon the presence of Andy Robertson to his left, with Joe Gomez filling in.

Thankfully, Liverpool’s captain is not one to shy away from responsibility. Van Dijk was supreme all game long, shackling Erling Haaland and coaching his younger teammates through a hectic match. It was a truly monstrous display of leadership and quality.

And from footage captured on the ‘Inside Anfield’ cameras for Liverpool’s YouTube channel, we can see that Virgil began his duties while still inside the tunnel.

“Be ready for this. Let’s show up from the first second to the last,” the 32-year-old can be heard saying, as his teammates line up ready for action. What a player, what a leader.

Van Dijk comes of age as captain

Back when Jordan Henderson gave up the Liverpool captaincy of eight years last summer, few had any doubts that the right man was assuming the armband.

A senior figure in the dressing room, Van Dijk had already led the Reds plenty of times in an interim basis. As captain of the Netherlands national team, he also had a fair bit of experience in a similar role.

But Henderson was a tough act to follow. The 33-year-old had won just about everything as skipper at Anfield and did leave a big old void.

Van Dijk is made of stern stuff, though. Since taking on the role, the former Southampton centre-back has been absolutely imperious.

His performances this season have been reminiscent of the very best we saw of the Dutchman between 2018 and 2020. In parts, he may have even exceeded his peak years.

Last month’s Carabao Cup final felt like the moment that Van Dijk truly arrived as Liverpool captain. Again coaching a very young team through the game, the Reds’ No.4 took responsibility and shut Chelsea out. Not satisfied with that, Virgil duly went and won the game – and the trophy – for his team, too.

If that was good though, then Sunday was even better. You have to credit the young players individually of course, but you get the feeling they wouldn’t be anything like as good as they were without Van Dijk’s help.

He breeds a confidence and a calm throughout the team that Henderson never really did. While Hendo shouted and bawled and cajoled the best out of his teammates, Van Dijk leads by example.

Both are sublime captain, neither one better than the other. But as this little clip goes to show, Van Dijk is the man in the dressing room right now. In many ways this is his team, and he’s ready to go to war with them.