Captain Virgil Van Dijk REMAINs Confident Liverpool's Ability Under Arne Slot

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk. (X/@LFC)

JAKARTA - Liverpool are still able to compete for the intense competition of the English Premier League despite changing coaches and are now being handled by Arne Slot. This belief was expressed by captain Virgil van Dijk even though Liverpool did not make much changes to the squad.

Liverpool did not make many reshuffles by bringing in new players. However, Liverpool had time to target Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi. However, the plan was canceled because Zubimendi refused to move to Anfield.

Finally, rumors circulated that Liverpool intended to recruit goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia. Mamardashvili showed impressive performance while standing under the Georgia crossbar at Euro 2024. Even Georgia was able to penetrate the last 16 before being defeated by Spain who later became European champions.

Mamardashvili became the target after Liverpool opened the opportunity to release goalkeeper totaling Becker who had been targeted by the Saudi Arabian club.

Although he has not purchased the player and left Jurgen Klopp who was replaced by Slot, Van Dijk remains optimistic that Liverpool will be able to compete with elite Premier League teams, Manchester City and Arsenal.

"We want to compete until the last game," said Van Dijk as quoted by the club's website.

Last season, Liverpool had a tight competition with Man City and Arsenal. They took turns to the top of the standings.

However, Liverpool are unable to maintain consistency and lose crucial points that make them abandoned by their competitors.

Liverpool also failed in the Europa League. Even at home in the first semifinal duel, The Pool was surprisingly beaten by Atalanta 3-0. They were eliminated after losing 1-0 in the second match and Atalanta who went to the final and won.

Van Dijk said many factors made Liverpool lose consistency. In addition, the team lost experience with The Cityzens and Arsenal so they fell behind points when entering important weeks.

"It's hard to explain because there are many factors. What is clear is that the other two teams are more consistent than us. They are able to overcome the pressure very well and have better quality time too," said Van Dijk.

"On the other hand, we are less consistent. We also lose players who are injured. We are not good enough to compete. This is a lesson for us. It must be admitted that if something goes wrong, then we will fail to compete until the end of the competition," said the centre-back of the Dutch national team.

However, Klopp can still bring Liverpool to win the Carabao Cup. This is Klopp's last trophy before placing his position as Liverpool manager. His position was replaced by Slot who won success with Feyenoord.

Van Dijk is optimistic that Slot's presence will make Liverpool still able to compete in competitions. "So far it's been pretty good and looks promising. But we still have to do better. There's still a lot to improve," he said.

"After last season's failure, we came back with a better way of thinking and engineering capabilities. Thus, we were able to compete and hope to achieve success. This is our goal. Of course we want success. This is not easy but we will try to achieve it," said Van Dijk.

Liverpool played their first match in a domestic competition against promoted team Ipswich Town, Saturday, August 17, 2024 evening WIB. Only, Liverpool underwent an away match at Portman Road Stadium, Ipswich.