Put any defender with him and he will make them look good..
Quality Goal
Sadly he can't work his magic with Lovren
Quality Goal
Sadly he can't work his magic with Lovren
Van Dijk
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Incredible leadership under pressure. It’s 2:2, we have a free-kick in the 85th minute. Most players would be lost in the emotion of the moment, but VVD’s head is cool enough to notice that Newcastle defensive line is setting up very deep, so an inswinger could be more dangerous.
Our only left-footed free-kick man Shaqiri is hanging out somewhere near the edge of the box and shows no interest in taking it, so Van Dijk gets on his case and keeps shouting and pointing until he finally runs over and swings it in - the rest is history. There were no guarantees – only a small % of free-kicks ever lead to goals; we could have well scored from Trent's delivery from the outswinger free-kick and Shaq could have wasted the inswinger. But Van Dijk insisted that we were going to choose an option with the highest possible odds of success – and he didn't let blindly following coaching instructions or a teammate's reluctance get in the way of what he knew was the right play. That’s not just a captain mindset, it’s a WINNER mindset.
Our only left-footed free-kick man Shaqiri is hanging out somewhere near the edge of the box and shows no interest in taking it, so Van Dijk gets on his case and keeps shouting and pointing until he finally runs over and swings it in - the rest is history. There were no guarantees – only a small % of free-kicks ever lead to goals; we could have well scored from Trent's delivery from the outswinger free-kick and Shaq could have wasted the inswinger. But Van Dijk insisted that we were going to choose an option with the highest possible odds of success – and he didn't let blindly following coaching instructions or a teammate's reluctance get in the way of what he knew was the right play. That’s not just a captain mindset, it’s a WINNER mindset.
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I'd give it to Robbo, for that slip the other week ...
Your last sentence negates the first.
Hopefully he’s switched on Tuesday. He was poor last week.
Should be captain next season.
Like when it was taken off Hyppia and given to Gerrard you mean?
Yes. Our form as a team didn't improve one iota and a few players actually went backwards under Stevie's "I'm Da Man" style of captaincy. Fabulous player, iffy skipper.
Ya that CL, super cup and fa cup win were terrible and we definitely didn’t improve ha.
In any case based on the above you are indicating it was a bad move as Gerrard was an iffy captain, we all known VVD won’t be and was born to captain whatever side he’s in. So it’s 100% the right thing to do.
That first bit is simply ridiculous. Rafa was the difference in 2004/5, not Stevie getting the armband years earlier, and there were decent players such as Biscan who withered away to shadows of themselves because Stevie's way of skippering the side was to tear strips off them for not being as brilliant as he was.
Virgil clearly is captain material (far more so than Stevie ever was) but "100% the right thing to do" my hairy @rse. As so often you've completely oversimplified the point and totally sailed past the counter-argument laid out in KopRed's excellent post above because it doesn't suit the pose you've decided to adopt.
If you aren't inspired by an obvious leader on the pitch like that then you are immune to trusty advice. He should be listened to, he's calm and considered. Always.
Biscan didn’t fuckin whither away. His best form for us was in that very season.
Tell ya what, poll our fans and ask if VVD should be make captain next season and see what result you get.
I’m not sailing past any point. I think they are insignicant compared with the positives of making him captain
Balls. Biscan's best form was the season he first arrived. We won at Old Toilet for the first time in ages and Biscan monstered Keane and the rest of their midfield.
Tell ya what, ask Klopp - a manager who's all about the team and the collective - if he thinks the effect of taking the armband off Henderson would be "insignificant".
Tell ya what, ask Klopp - a manager who's all about the team and the collective - if he thinks the effect of taking the armband off Henderson would be "insignificant".
If we didn't already have a captain, then Virgil would be the one to get it. I'm not sure I see many positives in changing captain now though.
Would it make him more influential or a better player? Doubt it. Would it have a negative affect on Henderson? Possibly.
Would it make him more influential or a better player? Doubt it. Would it have a negative affect on Henderson? Possibly.
Virgil is providing that leadership even without the band. I see no good reason to change. We have a great leadership group. Let's keep it that way.
Yep. Carra filled the same kind of role while Stevie wore the armband.
Apparently Virgil has been training on his own today. Some sort of fitness concern. Doubtful for tomorrow apparently.
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