Arne Slot addresses Virgil van Dijk unplanned Liverpool team meeting
Slot welcomed van Dijk’s intervention to address the squad’s struggles
Arne Slot praised Virgil van Dijk for leading a players-only meeting after Liverpool’s 2-1 loss to Manchester United.
The Reds, seeking to revive their Premier League title defence, face Brentford tonight, where former captain Jordan Henderson will play against them for the first time since leaving in 2023.
Despite a 5-1 Champions League win over Eintracht Frankfurt, three straight league defeats have left Liverpool four points behind leaders Arsenal.
Slot welcomed van Dijk’s intervention to address the squad’s struggles.
“What Virgil (Virgil van Dijk) did and what I did is what you need to do, what all the players did,” said the Liverpool boss.
“None of them should accept a loss against United, especially after already losing three games. That was something I was not happy about.
“It would not be good if the voice they were hearing was always me. That is why they hear my assistants too.
“And I don’t think it was like Virgil brought them over and said (gestures working on a tactics board): ‘From now on we must play like this’.
“We have five players who are captains of their national team. Virgil was not the only one who said something. You need that with experience, all of them can have a proper conversation.
“I encourage them to take responsibility and talk to each other, whether they are in the sauna or swimming pool, or when they are standing around with five or six of them.
“But if we have a leader like Virgil with so much respect in the group, then it is a good thing.”
Slot added: “I have had this experience maybe 250,000 times. If they are sitting upstairs at the coffee bar now, do you think they talk? I think they do.
“They constantly talk, sometimes that is done with everybody and sometimes just the leadership group.
“They talk and they should do. They feel what happens on the pitch. But when it comes to tactics, that is my territory.
“For me he has been the most influential captain I have had since I became a manager.
“That is meant as a compliment, but most of mine in the Dutch league were 22 or 23 because if they did well, they would go somewhere else after good performances.
“Virgil has done what I expected of him with his own performances. He has been a leader throughout my period here. Every single day, I can see he is the leader.
“If we start a session I can always hear him. I could not have asked more from him in that role. He has been very good successor.”
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