VVD clean sheets are obsession’
KOP star Virgil van Dijk’s biggest obsession is making sure Liverpool don’t concede goals.
That’s according to Jurgen Klopp’s right-hand man, who claims the Dutchman’s presence and leadership feeds confidence into the rest of Liverpool’s title-winning team.
Klopp’s champions conceded just 33 goals in their 38 Premier League games on the way to the title – fewer than any other team in the division.
Van Dijk, the 29-year-old PFA Player of the Year in 2018-19, played in EVERY league game for Klopp last season.
And Liverpool No.2 Pep Lijnders claims his fixation on shutting out the opposition was a major plank of their success in ending 30 years without the coveted crown.
“Virgil’s influence has been massive on the team, firstly because of his personality,” said Lijnders.
“He does not need to talk about leadership, he is showing leadership and his winning mentality in every vein of his body.
“Secondly, his presence in the dressing room, he is such a calm figure. He is only dealing with clean sheets – he is just crazy about keeping clean sheets.
“And what is great about him is that the team can press really high up on the pitch when you have a central defender like Virgil at the back.
“Because of him, our opponents always face a tough job.
“First, they have to try and get past our three strikers, who run and fight for every ball. They have been trained to handle five or six opponents at the same time.
“When the opposition has dealt with our strikers, they are facing a block of midfielders – and then, finally, they are facing Virgil van Dijk.
“And with those giant leaps of his, he solves many football problems.’’
Dutch coach Lijnders also claims Klopp’s stars have a real appreciation for the jobs other players in the team do – and that’s been a contributing factor to their spirit and success.
“We saw this graphic in a newspaper about all the positions where it showed that Gini Wijnaldum had played in every position at some point except for goalkeeper,” he said.
“Last season, we were playing Barcelona away, losing 3-0. Striker Bobby Firmino was not fit to start the game, so Gini had to fill the gap.
“After the final whistle, Gini came back in the dressing room and went straight up to Bobby.
“He said, ‘You do this every match? Respect man! I have only realised today how hard your job is’.”