Liverpool lynchpin Virgil van Dijk is adamant that Liverpool’s roller-coaster season can still end on a high ahead of this afternoon’s showdown against Spurs. “In an ideal world, we would go out and win every game, make our fans happy,” the 31-year-old told Metro. “However, football is like everything in life; it has its up and downs, you win, you lose, you have setbacks and pain, and you come back fighting.”
With Liverpool’s top-four hopes slim given the form of Newcastle and Manchester United, Van Dijk is not ready to concede defeat in the race for Champions League qualification, admitting instead “today’s match against Spurs will be difficult but we will just focus on the game, hope for the best possible outcome and enjoy it.” The Liverpool defender says the team have a tough task now in their hopes to finish in the top four, acknowledging it has been a difficult time. “We have six games to go. It has been a very tough season.”
Dutch born Van Dijk is not one to dwell on the past, insisting having “a positive mind-set” is all that matters. “Whatever happens these next few weeks will be very important for us and there is still plenty to play for in the six matches remaining for Liverpool. Staying focused on the games in hand, holding our heads high and remaining positive is the best thing we can do.”
If anyone lives by that advice it is Van Djik himself who, after nine months out with a serious knee injury, faced the most difficult time of his career in 2020. “I went through a very tough time,” Van Dijk said. “I suffered a lot obviously with my physical wellbeing but my mental health took a knock too. I knew that in order to cope I had to get into the right headspace and the first process of recovery is to do just that. You cannot sit around and dwell on what has happened, instead I looked around me and appreciated the love of my family, the club, my teammates, the fans and my amazing physios. They all kept me strong.”
He is quick to point out that more should be done to address mental health issues, adding “it is not an easy subject to discuss but more should be done to open the conversation around it and let people know it is okay not to be okay. I am a huge fan of the young generation, a big supporter of grassroots football and am aware so many kids look up to footballers like me.”
This is one of the reasons why his partnership with McDonald’s – that saw him launch the Fun Football and Happy Readers event – is so important to him. “It was amazing to work together and provide an extra-special community experience, aimed at families with children aged five to eleven to enjoy,” he said. “The programme will ensure ten million free books are distributed to kids, alongside two million hours of free Fun Football coaching sessions. With four kids myself, I know how important it is to get children reading books and to encourage them to get outside and get involved in sport. Kids don’t tend to play outside as much anymore and we need to encourage them to do so. Having a kick around in the fresh air is so important.”
As for his proudest moment playing for the club, Van Dijk does not point to one memory, instead he tells Metro: “Every time I wear the Liverpool shirt out on the pitch I feel proud. I’m not the youngest in the team by a far stretch, but I just appreciate being out there in front of the fans and giving it my all.” He has no plans to stop, insisting he will continue to play for as long as he can. He said: “Riding the rollercoaster of elite football is exhilarating but I don’t get nervous anymore before a match. Instead I like to ride it out, do my best and try to remain calm. I’m not ready to say Liverpool are out of the woods just yet but whatever happens, we will start again next season and hopefully come back better than before and return to our winning ways.”
Virgil Van Dijk hosted the Liverpool McDonald’s Happy Readers and Fun Football event celebrating McDonald’s pledge to distribute over 10m books and over 2m hours of free Fun Football coaching to families in the UK this year. To find out more visit www.mcdonalds.co.uk/family