Virgil van Dijk insists a revised summer schedule will be vital in helping Liverpool get back on track – as the defender highlighted how the mid-season World Cup affected his form. Van Dijk, who captained the Netherlands to a quarter-final penalty shootout exit to eventual winners Argentina at the World Cup in December, says the unique nature of the worldwide football calendar has had an adverse impact on the fortunes at Anfield and believes the opportunity to recharge his batteries in the close season will be imperative to putting things right next term.
Virgil Van Dijk said: “Obviously last pre-season was the other way around, so we had the commercial tour first. But I also think that having a holiday is very important after this season and I think it is actually just as important as having a pre-season in general. It gives us a chance to completely switch off and have your mind on something else. So you let your body recover and then it gives you the benefit when you go into the pre-season as well, so we have to find the right balance in this case. But yes, we go to Germany first and I bet there is going to be a lot of running, a lot of hard work and a lot of tactical sessions to get us ready for a tough season ahead where all the other teams will improve as well. [The World Cup] definitely has had an impact on [the season], that is my opinion. It’s not a normal season and that is quite clear, so everyone has had to deal with it, that was quite clear. So some clubs have dealt with it much better than others. In this case on Sunday (against Tottenham), it will be another big challenge. We are at home and we are positive and confident and we will give everything and we will see what happens.”
Liverpool’s No.4 was part of the team that made it five unbeaten with a 2-1 win at West Ham United on Wednesday night and he feels there is a consistency that is slowly returning to the side.
Virgil Van Dijk said: “Obviously we are trying to get consistency and I think the only way to get it is to show it in games, I think. Training has been good but the manager has been saying it as well, the only thing that matters is what happens in games. I think we have been performing better. In the last game as well, against Nottingham Forest, aside from the throw-ins of course. But aside from that the game before, Leeds away, it was obviously a fantastic performance in my opinion, so we will try to get there. If we want to achieve something good for next season we obviously have to win the games ahead of us and that is something that is in the back of our mind but it is not the main focus. The main focus is to win the game ahead of us and we will see. It’s important to have a good squad in general, I think, and obviously you don’t want injuries and it’s good to see players coming back. I don’t think we’ve got any long-term injuries now apart from maybe one or two and we need everyone. It is an intense two weeks, I think we play every three days now. Next one is Sunday and then we have Fulham and Brentford before a little break, so we need everyone in this case. And also in training we need everyone as well to keep the level as high as possible, so everyone is playing a part and everyone is realising that as well. So if we want to do what we want to do, we need everyone, that is clear. Obviously [Champions League qualification] is important but at this point, it’s something that is out of our hands a little bit. So it’s like I said, it’s not over and there are so many points still left to go, so we just focus on what’s ahead of us.”
