Virgil van Dijk's Challenge for Liverpool Ahead of New Season
Virgil van Dijk has drawn a hard line under last season and thrown down a challenge to Liverpool’s dressing room on the eve of the new Premier League campaign, branding the previous year “unacceptable” and insisting there can be no repeat.
Liverpool open the Andoni Iraola era on Sunday away to Newcastle United, with the captain heading into his 10th season at the club and sounding every inch the standard-bearer for what comes next.
“Last year was unacceptable”
Liverpool went into 2024/25 as champions of England. They ended it bruised. Twelve league defeats, 20 losses in all competitions, and a limp stumble to fifth place under Arne Slot told its own story, even if Champions League football was salvaged on the final day.
The cost was high. Slot was dismissed less than a week after the season ended, his brief tenure cut short as Liverpool moved quickly to reset. Iraola, out of work after leaving Bournemouth, signed a two-year deal in early June and has spent pre-season reshaping the team’s approach.
Van Dijk did not sugar-coat what came before.
“For me personally, being a Liverpool player, last year was unacceptable,” he said. “But that is last year. This year we have an opportunity to turn that around, together with our fans.”
He knows the scale of the task.
“We all know how tough that will be but if you don't up for the challenge, then you're not at the right place. What I feel at the moment is everyone is up for the challenge. Let's see how we go about it.”
No point to prove – but a badge to fight for
The Dutchman cut an optimistic figure when speaking about the campaign ahead, stressing that the drive must come from inside the club rather than from outside noise.
“I'm really looking forward to this season and I don't think we have a point to prove to anyone,” he said. “We have to show how much we care, how much we want to fight for this badge and also realise how privileged we are to be playing for Liverpool.”
Pre-season has offered a glimpse of Iraola’s ideas: higher risk, more aggression, more front-foot football. Van Dijk has seen enough to feel a spark.
“If you look at Bournemouth last year (under Iraola), I think they were pretty exciting,” he said. “I would say if we keep working, keep believing, keep showing our quality, staying fit, and hopefully win a lot of games then we can be very excited.
“That's the aim, that’s what we fight for, but we all know how tough it is. We all know how tough it is to be playing Premier League football, to be playing on all four fronts, but you have to embrace it. You have to enjoy the ride.”
Then came the reminder of responsibility.
“We are all so blessed here and we have to keep going and enjoy it and that's what I will do, and I encourage everyone to do that as well. That's what I keep saying to the boys as well so let's see.”
New boss, new partner, same standards
The reset is not just on the touchline. Van Dijk will line up with a new centre-back partner as Iraola decides whether to throw £60m signing Jeremy Jacquet straight into the Premier League or lean on the experience of Ronald Araujo, who arrived on loan from Barcelona earlier this month.
Whoever starts, Van Dijk is clear: the collective has to be stronger.
“We need a squad that is able to compete on all four fronts and that’s the only way to try to be successful,” he said. “Let’s see what the last couple of weeks of the transfer window will bring and then let’s go for it.”
The message is blunt. Last season is a warning. Newcastle away will show how quickly Liverpool have learned from it.
