Virgil Van Dijk Is The King Of Cool Against Newcastle Is the

August 29, 2025

in Liverpool

Reading Time: 4 mins read

Newcastle paid for taking part in an emotional recreation while Liverpool, guided by their imperious captain Virgil van Dijk, stored their cool…

LAST week I spoke about emotion and the way drama clings to this membership like a barnacle.

On Monday evening, Newcastle invested closely on an emotional recreation. Extreme urgent from all quarters, a feral crowd who’ve determined we’re the foundation of all their ills and with tackles flying in as soon as they’d realised that the referee, Frank Spencer with a whistle, wasn’t a person to rock the boat. Liverpool have been made to work to simply get out of their very own half.

There are two methods of trying on the response to that. Liverpool panicked and couldn’t get out, or, that they efficiently destroyed the momentum by time losing and solely going backwards and sideways quite than dropping the ball additional up the pitch. I want the latter argument.

There have been instances when Virgil van Dijk, enjoying arguably his biggest recreation in a crimson shirt, and Ibou Konate (arguably doing the precise reverse) had the ball for therefore lengthy in entrance of their very own field that they might have left it alone and gone for a chat with the keeper.

Nobody presses Virgil van Dijk. Ever. Which means each time he has the ball in his personal half it’s akin to a free-kick the place Liverpool have time to regain form. Newcastle’s tactic of uberpressing couldn’t have that so tried to press him into making a mistake. Good luck with that. He simply stored it or popped it off to a different defender. Utilizing the ball to tire Newcastle’s legs. Management over tempo.

Perhaps we recognised their frustration. The issue with a decided high-tempo recreation like that’s that you simply just about have to attain instantly for it to work. It’s too straightforward to tire and turn out to be discouraged when issues don’t go to plan. Heads begin to go. You may say that is the place Anthony Gordon got here in, however that wouldn’t strictly be true. Joelinton had already set a few markers on Mo Salah earlier than Gordon dedicated his assault on the Champions’ captain.

An excessive amount of emotion can result in an absence of management. Sure, Newcastle have been spectacular however their recreation plan was naïve. Liverpool can trip a storm so what do you do while you haven’t scored and are all of the sudden the extra bored with the 2 sides? And it’s Liverpool? Fortunately for them they waited for us to knock off.

What Liverpool can’t do is keep a lead and it’s turn out to be an issue. Six factors on the board is a superb begin, however Arne Slot and his crew can be these 4 conceded targets – all of them preventable.

At St James’s Park we had a weak problem from Milos Kerkez for the primary and no matter that was speculated to be for the second. Why was the line of defense so excessive for that free-kick? Insane.

Sky Sports activities have been eager to level out that we bought away with a fortunate win, however Liverpool managed a tough recreation as Champions do. Removed from spectacular at instances however we fought until the top and there’s loads to be mentioned for that.

The distinction, for me no less than, was Virgil van Dijk. Newcastle can look to their very own centre-back talisman in Dan Burn however give me the Dutchman daily. Not only for his virtually easy skill, however for his management after we have been actually underneath the cosh.

There are occasions when your head’s going that you simply want your captain to navigate you thru the subsequent 5 minutes. Virgil van Dijk is nice at that. He doesn’t panic and we’d have been knackered with out him yesterday.

There’s work to be performed although. That a lot is evident.

That’s effective although. Liverpool simply haven’t settled but. Kerkez and Wirtz appear at odds with both the tempo of the sport or the place they’re speculated to play on this setup, however that may include time.

Within the first recreation we missed Ryan Gravenberch and towards Newcastle we missed Alexis Mac Allister, however we ought to be again in form for the weekend.

However the closing phrase has to go to Rio Ngumoha. He dances on the Tyne. He’s not sufficiently old to order beer or wine.

I’ve simply labored out what I used to be doing 4 days earlier than my 17th birthday, and it seems I wasn’t scoring final minute winners towards Newcastle United. I used to be in all probability panicking about not entering into Flintlocks membership on the weekend.

He wins there. I reckon he’d get in if it nonetheless existed.

A lot work to do then, however a win towards Arsenal on Sunday and …

No, let’s not go there. Generally it’s greatest if emotion is stored in examine.

Karl