Players in the history of Liverpool do not come much better than Virgil van Dijk.
Widely regarded as the best centre-back on the planet, the arrival of the Dutch star from Southampton back in 2018 has been a game-changer for the Merseyside club, which contributed to the Reds winning every trophy possible during the Jurgen Klopp era.
Van Dijk is out of contract at Liverpool at the end of the season and everyone at the club is doing their best to ensure the club captain remains at Anfield for another season and beyond.
Jürgen Klopp will return to Liverpool on the weekend of the final Premier League game of the season against Crystal Palace and the legendary coach will hope to see Van Dijk lifting the Reds’ 20th English top-flight crown.
Despite being the teacher’s pet throughout the German’s time at Liverpool, that did not stop the Dutch star from receiving a telling off from time to time.
- READ MORE: Man United legend Paul Scholes hits out at Virgil van Dijk after Liverpool lose against Fulham
Jurgen Klopp didn’t exclude Virgil van Dijk from rants
Van Dijk has often been spotted shouting at his Liverpool teammates as that is part of the centre-back’s job as captain of the Merseyside club, but it is rare to see the 33-year-old on the other end.
The Dutch star is often too good to be told off for something, however, when appearing on The Overlap three years ago, Van Dijk admitted that Klopp did not exclude him when it came to shouting at his players
“Plenty of times,” Van Dijk said told Gary Neville when asked if Klopp ever shouted at him. “Not in my face because I feel like screaming in someone’s face can be a little disrespectful. When it is needed, he will definitely do it, he shouts a lot.
“What I like is when someone does that, it’s because someone really cares about you or the situation and wants to make sure you improve or get anyone else sharper, so I enjoy that as well in a certain way.”
Neville asked Van Dijk to go into more detail and to even mention a specific time when Klopp had a go at him.
There are not many in which Liverpool fans can think of, however, the Liverpool captain named one that supporters may not know off from the start of the 2022/23 campaign.
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Virgil van Dijk recalls Jurgen Klopp moment against Fulham
Liverpool opened up their 2022/23 campaign with an away game at Fulham, which finished 2-2 at Craven Cottage, and it was in this game that Klopp supposedly shouted at Van Dijk the most.
The Liverpool captain detailed the scenario that played out to Neville as the Dutch star stated that Klopp did not like a moment in which the centre-back opted to play a long ball.
“I think when we played Fulham at the start of the season, actually, 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,” Van Dijk said.
“I know he was shouting at me from the side. So I didn’t want to look at him and try to acknowledge him, because I know for a fact that he was going to go after me.”
This was a rare occurrence and even by the sounds of it, the shouting didn’t seem too intense. Other players have definitely received a lot worse from Klopp and it often brought out the best in them when things were not going to plan.
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