Jamie Carragher was right all along with Virgil van Dijk and now Liverpool’s next move is obvious

It was an expression Virgil van Dijk later claimed to regret, but few could have blamed him when he sat in the Wembley dressing room with his hands full of silverware at the end of February.

The Liverpool captain was moments removed from a remarkable performance alongside a winning goal to beat Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final when he trained his eyes on the camera straight ahead. “They thought I was done!”

During the backlash, collecting his man-of-the-match award alongside the League Cup trophy itself was a rip-off, even if Van Dijk said weeks later that he shouldn’t have gotten caught up in the emotion at the time.

“I totally understand the buzz that came with it, but I’m human and I’m not immune to any of that, so there was a bit of emotion that day, but I shouldn’t have said that,” he revealed him later. “Maybe in a way it was good to say, because I get away with it, but I don’t like the noise around me. I like to play the game.”

End of Season Ratings:

Alisson Becker

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Ibrahima Konate

Luis Diaz

Cody Gakpo

Darwin Nunez

In his first season as club captain, Van Dijk will be able to reflect on a job well done. The Liverpool defender looked like his “normal self” again, even if criticism of some of his performances from the previous campaign was both exaggerated and undermined by the lack of midfield protection in front of him at times.

The summer additions of Alexis Mac Allister and Wataru Endo in particular were instrumental in allowing Van Dijk to return to the kind of levels that marked him as one of the best centre-halves to ever compete in the Premiership era League.

As club captain, Van Dijk added a new pre-match routine at the start of the season, with the players coming together for a huddle just before kick-off to hear some final bits of inspiration, and it was noted privately by some of the team members. team how different the management group was with the super cool Dutchman at the helm alongside new vice-captain Trent-Alexander Arnold.

Raised on a diet of demands from the combative duo of Jordan Henderson and James Milner, two famously determined and dedicated professionals, the change of captain to the more relaxed pairing of Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold has led to a more serene atmosphere. day by day, it was said.

A dismissal in the 2-1 win over Newcastle United was a rare blemish on Van Dijk’s book and the subsequent suspension has frustrated the Reds skipper in his attempts to lead a new-look side in the opening weeks of what was widely invented. as “Liverpool 2.0”.

A dominant performance in a 2-0 win over Everton at Anfield in October was delivered, while the skipper also held his own at the Etihad a month later as the Reds earned a creditable 1-1 draw with Manchester City. The defender’s form has begun to see his name talked about as a potential player of the year as Liverpool head towards a title challenge not expected just months before.

In a run at the start of 2024, Van Dijk won 24 of his 25 matches in a six-match run and his inspired display in a cup final saw Jurgen Klopp forced to start four others that were not his “first choice”. in the back five was integral. The defender finished the season with the best aerial duel win rate (81.4%) in any of Europe’s top five leagues.

“You don’t have to analyze it,” mused Reds legend Jamie Carragher after Van Dijk scored in a win over Luton Town. “Look at the colossus, look at him, look at him! A marvel of modern science. He’s the best centre-back the Premier League has ever seen, by a mile.”

As he boasts, it was indeed lofty, but entirely in keeping with the kind of platitudes the Dutch skipper had earned throughout the season from 2005 Champions League winner Carragher.

Speaking after Van Dijk and a young and unknown defensive line-up held City to a 1-1 draw at Anfield where the dominant hosts failed to convert their chances, Carragher again moved to extol the virtues central defender, labeling him as one of the greats.

“Big centre-backs don’t just play their own game, you can control all four at the back,” said Carragher, who made 737 appearances for the Reds. “When you look at Liverpool’s back four today, everyone in the stadium is thinking, ‘Oh, you’re up against Manchester City, there’s Kevin De Bruyne, there’s Erling Haaland.’

“For me, Van Dijk is right up there as far as centre-backs go. I actually think Van Dijk is a better centre-back than Haaland is a striker, that’s how I rate Van Dijk. I think he’s absolutely outstanding.”

A disappointing April dashed hopes of a glorious end to Klopp’s time with the Reds, but Van Dijk once again displayed plenty of evidence to suggest there is still plenty of miles left on the Dutchman’s clock.

Heading into the final 12 months of a tenure that was signed three years ago, the next step for the club is to tie down their captain for the long-term future. The man himself insists he is fully on board with Arne Slot as head coach and a new contract appears to be a no-brainer from Liverpool’s perspective, even though Van Dijk has insisted nothing has been tabled yet.

Van Dijk, who turns 33 next month, has more football behind him than in front of him, but another excellent campaign should allay concerns that his best days are over. Who thought it was over?

Rating at the end of the season: 8