He has an interview with Henry Winter in todays Times, pity I can't read read it as you need a (paid) subscription.
It is a great article (worth taking out a subscription...)
Liverpool’s a big family. They look after you. That’s why I came hereHenry Winter, Chief Football Writer
August 23 2019, 5:00pm, The Times
Van Dijk transformed Liverpool’s defence after joining from Southampton for what was a world-record fee for a defenderFifty-seven minutes into Liverpool’s game at Southampton last Saturday, and Jan Bednarek sweeps a 60-yard ball down the right towards Nathan Redmond. Virgil van Dijk, a chess grand master of a centre back, has already read the move and assessed the possibility of a Liverpool counter. The PFA Player of the Year already has a picture of everybody’s location and direction of travel, friend or foe.
He’s seen his left back Andrew Robertson pushed up, as so often ready to spring another raid. He knows the midfield player James Milner drops back, partly covering Robertson. Southampton have possession but Van Dijk has control. Running towards the goal-line, Redmond awaits Bednarek’s delivery; he’s a good player, the Southampton attacker, nimble and alive to the ball, but he’s stealthily ambushed by Van Dijk.
Liverpool’s No 4 could play safe, heading the ball out, but he understands these precious split-seconds of transition allow Jürgen Klopp’s side to break dangerously. So he flicks the ball back with the tip of his right foot over Redmond, back upfield to Milner, elegantly launching the counter.
The Dutchman reclaims balls from the opposition with the skill, efficiency and future value with which his compatriots famously reclaim land from the sea. Van Dijk’s action seems effortless, almost nonchalant, but the advance work is already done by his brain. The ball is instantly with Gini Wijnaldum, then Robertson and off Liverpool set again.
On Wednesday, he discusses the moment with Milner at Melwood, reflecting the depth of analysis Liverpool do, even when it’s simply two players chatting after training. On Thursday, Van Dijk glides into an ante-chamber of Liverpool’s training ground, arriving early for the interview, filling the room with an aura and a height that requires the photographer to stand on a chair. He nods at the memory of the Redmond incident.
“It’s going so quick, split-seconds, where you try to overlook [anticipate] certain situations before they actually happen,” he explains. “You look at the guy on the ball, and you have to have a solution for when the ball comes to you. Sometimes, I try to head it to Robbo or our midfield players and we can play on. Sometimes you just have to clear it. This moment, I could play on.”
On the wall to his right hangs a photograph of Mark Lawrenson but it is Lawrenson’s central defensive partner, Alan Hansen, the epitome of unruffled, that Van Dijk most finds himself compared to. ‘There are plenty of pictures of him upstairs!” Van Dijk smiles. “I’ve heard so many good things about him, how calm he also was, how great on the ball, such a leader for Liverpool, so it’s great to be compared to such a great player.”
His composure is celebrated by the Kop in their song: “he’ll pass the ball; calm as you like”. “I was always like that,” the 28-year-old recalls. “Back in the day [trying to make his way at Willem II and Groningen], people would always say I was a bit too nonchalant. Maybe I was. Over the years, I’ve found the right balance when to calm things down and sometimes just speed things up.”
He believes his Surinamese ancestry via his mother, Hellen, contributes to this. “100 per cent. Our mentality is always to relax a little bit, the Suriname people love to just enjoy life. At the beginning of my career, people said it could be my weakness, but I’ve learned to pick the moment when to be calm, and when not.”
As with many Dutch footballing talents, Van Dijk’s development began on a Cruyff Court, the 40m by 28m pitches funded by the Johan Cruyff Foundation. “We had two Cruyff Courts in Breda, one was pretty close to where I lived [in Haagse Beemden, northwest of the city]. You play five-a-side, and there were so many teams there, and the winners stay on. If you get beaten, you had to wait quite a bit! It was so competitive. Sometimes there were fights, that happens. There was so much quality there. These courts are a very important base for young players.” The name alone was an inspiration. “I knew how big a player Cruyff was, an icon of Dutch football, and a great human being.”
Van Dijk’s journey from Breda to Beatleville, from Cruyff Court to European champion, has not been straightforward. He had to overcome the doubts of some coaches in the Netherlands, growing pains at 15, washing dishes for €4 an hour in the Oncle Jean restaurant in Breda as a 17-year-old while trying to break through at Groningen, then appendicitis at 19. All the time, he is driven by Hellen’s advice. “My mum and dad broke up [when he was 12], and my mum was most of the time taking care of us [Van Dijk and his two siblings], giving us the basics: ‘Be respectful, work hard, stay positive and always follow your dreams’. That’s definitely something I kept doing.”
He never lost faith in his dream, leaving Groningen for Celtic for £2.6 million in 2013, making his name in Paradise, bringing a £12.5 million move to Southampton two years later and then signing for Liverpool in a £75 million deal. He was immediately taken with Liverpool’s “family” feel. “They’re really there for you, take care of you. That’s really important. Celtic has a similar feeling. It’s something I appreciate a lot, and one of the main reasons I made the decision to come here.”
He swiftly discovered the immense size of the local, national and global fanbase. “My first pre-season we went to America and I saw so many Liverpool fans! I knew Liverpool were a massive club, but to be everywhere in the world is unbelievable. Everyone feels part of the club. It doesn’t really matter where you’re from. If you’re a Red, you’re in the family for life. That’s a great feeling.”
He accepts this zeal for Liverpool as a pleasure not a pressure. “I just want to go out there and play freely. I turned 28 over the summer, and just want to enjoy every bit of it because before you know it, it [a career] is over. I don’t want to think I should have done ‘this’ or ‘that’.” Seize the moment. And the trophies.
Dealing with pressure has become easier with fatherhood putting sport into perspective. “Yes. It’s massively helped me. That was the biggest turnaround of my mental strength, being with my wife, having my first kid [five years ago], and now I’m blessed to have two beautiful daughters. If you lose a game, and come home and see them smiling, nothing can beat that.
“Football is almost the most important thing in my life. It’s why I work hard, day in, day out, going to training, wanting to maximise all the qualities I’m trying to show. But there is just one thing above and that’s my family, what I have at home.
“Especially after my first big injury at Southampton [his ankle in 2017], I just started to properly be so strong mentally. Now I feel like I can beat the world. I hope this feeling can stay for ever. I don’t work with anyone, it’s all me.” That’s rare, I suggest, an elite sportsman working without a psychologist. “Yes. I’m very happy I’ve found a way that I can do it.” The “way” is lit by that innate belief he has, that “follow your dreams” mantra from Hellen, that love of his family and Klopp’s backing.
He handles his profession’s vicissitudes adroitly. “I know how tough and cruel this world can be: what if you score an own goal, make a mistake, concede a goal, miss a penalty, lose a final? These days with social media it can be very cruel. You can be affected by it. I’m very happy it doesn’t really hurt me.”
He was shocked by the online racist abuse suffered by Paul Pogba after the Manchester United midfield player missed a penalty against Wolves on Monday. “I don’t think the world has become more racist but there are still people out there that say these foul things. There are plenty of people who ruin it for other people. These days anyone can make an account with Twitter, just put something out there, so many people can retweet it. If they [Twitter] really want to change it, they can do something about identification when you post something. Then it can go straight back, ‘you did this’.”
The two dressing rooms he inhabits, Liverpool and Holland, are celebrations of diversity. Van Dijk likes that football teams can lead the way for society. “I have that feeling,” he replies. Sportsmen and women are becoming important leaders o the pitch, too, the likes of Raheem Sterling, Colin Kaepernick and Megan Rapinoe. People that kids look up to. We always should be an example. Outside of the pitch I’m looked up to by kids and younger footballers who want to become a professional. I know the responsibility I have. I want to be a leader.
“I know I can handle the responsibility because of how I am as a person, I don’t do crazy things. I’m not on social media day in, day out. I just want to be normal and do my job and enjoy life. If you look at our team, the qualities we have, the goals we score, we definitely enjoy every bit of it. I’m very proud and happy that more people enjoy the defensive work. For all of us defenders it’s great to get recognition.”
We return to discussing his defending and the moment 85 minutes into the game with Spurs at Anfield on March 31, when Van Dijk finds himself facing the breaking Moussa Sissoko with Son Heung-min available. Van Dijk closes down the space to Son, leaving Sissoko the only option of a shot — on his weaker left foot. “As any defender in an academy [learns], when you have a two versus one situation, you try to direct them to one side. I know Son is a better finisher than Sissoko. Sissoko could have scored but he didn’t hit it well. With me and Alisson, it’s almost two versus two because Alisson’s not easy to beat either!”
The understanding between the pair is substantial, and seen in the 89th minute of the Champions League final in Madrid. Liverpool have a dead-ball and Van Dijk walks away from goal with the ball, which he casually drops and, without looking, backheels unneringly to Alisson. “I was a little bit tired as well! I tried to get rid of a little bit of time! Everyone saw last year how good Alisson is, how important he is for us.”
Recovering from a calf injury, Alisson misses Saturday’s game with Arsenal. “Until Alisson is back then we have full confidence in Adrian. He’s a quality goalkeeper, experienced.” Adrian started in the Uefa Super Cup, where Liverpool looked to be playing a higher defensive line, conceding twice in an unconvincing defensive performance while Chelsea’s Mason Mount was ruled offside after putting the ball past Adrian. “In certain situations it looks like it [a high line] but I don’t think we’re doing things differently. There were certain goals disallowed and it looks then that we’re not defending pretty well.” Were they pushing up, knowing the VAR should catch all offsides, even by an armpit? “No, no! It’s nothing to do with VAR. The new rule is we have to play on until the whistle, and sometimes it looks a bit chaotic, especially when we have a high line, and the player is offside and we still play on.”
Liverpool have a settled back four with the only rotation really being Joël Matip or Joe Gomez partnering Van Dijk — “they’re different players but both have so much quality” — and Gomez occasionally replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold at right back. “Trent’s a fantastic young English talent, and has so much potential still. That’s only going to benefit everyone in England. I’m very happy he’s in our team. The same with Robbo, who’s been making huge steps, especially last season, he was outstanding, maybe the best left back in the world. It’s on all of us to show it again. We all want to.”
A relentlessness defines the elite. “I know every player in our team can do even better than last year. We all start from nothing, everything that happened last year shouldn’t really count. Of course, I’m proud of what we achieved, especially in the beginning of the summer, I was still up in the clouds and very happy, that’s normal as the Champions League is not something you win every year. Well, you hope to win it every year! But it’s not that easy.
“The draw for the Champions League is next week and everyone wants to get the trophy from our hands. It’s on us to show from scratch again that we want to go for it again. We know how tough it is. Also, in the league, we are European champions, is it going to help us win the league? I don’t think so.”
It’s about concentration, expression of special gifts and dealing with prolific attackers such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette this weekend. “They’re fantastic finishers, both of them. They’ve got pace, but overall Arsenal are just a great team. They have a clear plan of playing. It’s a fantastic game to play in.”
He doesn’t study opponents much. “Not any more. In the first season at Southampton, I looked at clips of who I was going to face. I’m at a stage now that I know most of the strikers, all their strengths and weaknesses. I know I’m going to face quality strikers. Only before the game do I put my mind to what I’m going to face and then I focus on myself and the team.” Van Dijk’s prepared.
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* Dutch stars made in SurinameVirgil van Dijk is another Dutch footballer with roots (his mother) in Suriname, a small country on the northeast tip of South America
RUUD GULLIT
Son of a Surinamese migrant, he won 66 Holland caps and played for Feyenoord, AC Milan and Chelsea
FRANK RIJKAARD
Like Gullit, his father was a footballer in Suriname. The defensive midfielder played for Ajax, AC Milan and 73 times for Holland
EDGAR DAVIDS
Born in Suriname, played for Ajax, Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur as well as making 74 appearances for Holland
PATRICK KLUIVERT
His father was a footballer born in Suriname. He played for Ajax, Barcelona and 79 times for Holland
ARON WINTER
Born in Suriname, the defender made more than 100 appearances for Ajax and Lazio. He won 84 caps for Holland
JIMMY FLOYD HASSELBAINK
Born in Suriname, the striker scored goals for Leeds, Chelsea and Middlesbrough as well as nine in 23 games for Holland
From <https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/virgil-van-dijk-interview-liverpool-s-a-big-family-they-look-after-you-that-s-why-i-came-here-ngjdxm7zj?region=global>
