Sir Kenny Dalglish has claimed one Liverpool player in particular is ‘vital’ to Jurgen Klopp’s squad and the young Reds aces seeking to become regular fixtures in the first team.
The past week has been a productive one for the club – especially the Academy.
A number of Liverpool youngsters featured at Wembley last week and helped the club pick up our tenth League Cup trophy as we defeated Chelsea in the capital.
And then on Wednesday a total of 10 players who had featured for the club’s youth sides were involved as we beat Southampton 3-0 at Anfield in the FA Cup.
Captain Virgil van Dijk led the side superbly during both games, netting the winner in extra-time at Wembley, and Dalglish has highlighted the importance of having the Netherlands international in the squad.
“He’s vital. He’s the one they look up to, he’s not anything other than constructive with the kids, encouraging with the kids,” our former No.7 told No Tippy Tappy Podcast (via The Boot Room).
“He’ll tell them when it’s wrong, but he’s not going to remonstrate in front of 80 or 90,000 people to the kids. He’s going to encourage them. And he scored the goal, especially after having one knocked off, which I still can’t understand now, but they got it with a minute to go, that’s a great time to score.”
The youngsters will learn so much from van Dijk when being in and around the senior set-up.
The way in which the Dutchman conducts himself on and off the pitch is brilliant to see and we’re fortunate to have him.
The former Southampton man looks back to his world-class best this term and it’s therefore no coincidence that we’re challenging on all fronts this season.
Keeping him fit for the remainder of the campaign is vital as not only is he a brilliant player, but also an exceptional leader who the youngsters will enjoy playing alongside.