Virgil van Dijk exercised his status as Liverpool captain to take positive action the day after the Reds lost to Manchester United last weekend.
The Premier League champions suffered a fourth successive defeat on Sunday as Harry Maguire’s late winner sent the home side to a 2-1 defeat at Anfield, just the fourth time our captain has been on the losing side in a top-flight match at the stadium since joining LFC in 2018.
The result deepens the Merseysiders’ sense of soul-searching, with Jamie Carragher bluntly stating that his former club would have no chance of retaining their title if they do not tighten up defensively.
Van Dijk called a players meeting after defeat against Man United
Liverpool bounced back emphatically on Wednesday evening by beating Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1, and Van Dijk revealed afterwards that he had called a players’ meeting on Monday to get the team to talk openly about the Reds’ loss of form.
The 34-year-old told reporters (via BBC Sports): “On Monday everyone was sad because we lost at home to United. We haven’t lost many games at home during my time at Liverpool.”
“It was tough given the circumstances, so on Monday we came together, but it wasn’t a crisis meeting. We all know how things can change. We’re only in October.”
“Obviously we also had a good debriefing with the manager, but as players we also had a separate debriefing. I wanted to say a few things. It’s not something I do after every game. Let’s keep it that way.”
When asked whether morale among the team was low after last weekend, Van Dijk replied: “Before my meeting yes, but after my meeting everyone was happy!”
Van Dijk’s meeting seems to have had the desired effect
It was the captain’s first experience losing four games on the rebound at Liverpool, and in his leadership role he clearly felt compelled to bring his teammates together and facilitate an open forum away from the attention of the coaching staff.
The Dutchman’s words indicate that it was not a crisis summit, but rather an opportunity for players to get things off their chest and have a frank conversation with the aim of resolving any issues in a cooperative manner.
Van Dijk is a classic case of a footballer who never gets too high after a win, or too low after a defeat, and it was no surprise to hear how he kept everyone’s feet on the ground in the immediate aftermath of last night’s 5-1 win in Frankfurt.
Without being aware of what was said at the players’ meeting, the result in Germany could indicate that the result had the desired effect. The key for Liverpool now is to use the result as a starting point for a long-term return to form, rather than it being an isolated tour de force amid an ongoing rut.
If Wednesday’s success is the trigger for an ongoing winning streak, then Monday’s team summit appears to have produced exactly the result the captain was looking for.
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