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JO
RD
AN HENDERSON
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TH
E^ S
KIPPER’S^ NO
TE
S
|THE FIERCER THE
COMPETITION AT
THIS CLUB, THE
BETTER IT IS
I
’ve no idea what team the
Gaffer will pick for tonight, but
regardless of his involvementon the pitch or on the team-
sheet in any capacity, it will be
Virgil van Dijk’s first matchday
as an eligible Liverpool player,
and that alone is enough of
an excuse to wish him and his
family a very warm welcome to
the club.
It’s fantastic that Virgil has
finally completed his move to
us and I know from the brief
conversations we’ve had at
Melwood already he’s champing
at the bit to get started. What’s
going to be important for him
and the team in general is that
all the excitement around him
signing doesn’t put pressure or
expectation that isn’t needed,
isn’t healthy and isn’t fair.
As the Gaffer has said when
talking about this, he is a top
player but he’s joining a squad
of other top players.
That’s the context for me:
Virgil is joining a fantastic group
of players and really strong
dressing room. He’s going to
add massively to what we’ve
got and in turn being part of our
environment will improve him.
What’s great, having talked to
him over the past few days, is
that his only focus is on helping
us and winning matches forLiverpool. He’s not bothered
about any of the other circus
that surrounds the signing. His
head is entirely on the football
and that bodes well for his and
our future here.
The other thing that shouldn’t
be lost is that we already have
four outstanding centre-halves
at the club and these lads have
been performing superbly for us
all season and will keep doing so.
I know from personal
experience that the fiercer the
competition at this club the
better it is. Well, at centre-half
we’re going to have incredible
competition for places now and
with all the games we’ll have,