Arne Slot shares what he noticed about Virgil van Dijk on day one at Liverpool

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First impressions always count, and Virgil van Dijk certainly made a good one.No one could have predicted just how well Arne Slot was going to settle into life in England after joining at the start of last season, but he certainly left his mark.Going into his first day, he would have been filled with nerves given that he was taking over from one of the best managers in the club’s history, although it did not seem to impact him one bit.Join our newsletter for news & smart analysis. Of course, it helped that he had some of the best players already to help him out, one of these being fellow Dutchman van Dijk.The captain would have been one of the first to greet him and make an impression, with Slot noticing something about the centre-back from the very first day he met him.Photo by Steven Halliwell/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesArne Slot knew Virgil van Dijk was a leader of men from day oneThere are not many players in the world who can command as much respect as van Dijk does, but the Dutchman just seems to have an aura about him.Everything he does seems so effortless, yet it almost always seems to work out, with his leadership qualities something that helps the Reds get over the line more often than not.This is something Slot said he noticed from day one, with the manager knowing that he was the right man for the captain’s job.“I’ve picked captains at my former clubs where the age of the players were much younger,” Slot told Sky Sports.“Maybe not completely because they were already the leader of the team, but I’m hoping that could help them to become a leader of the team.“But with Virgil, it’s so clear that he’s the leader of this team.

When you walk through the AXA [training centre], when we start the training session, you can hear him, you can feel he’s our leader.“He’s already been so important for this club for so many years, but I don’t think I’ve had many captains that were so vocal, so loud as he is. He’s been a very good captain for me and since he became the captain of this club.READ MORE: Hugo Ekitike explains what he would like to copy from Erling Haaland ahead of Liverpool vs Man City“He sets the bar at 10 out of 10 and when he has a nine out of 10 [performance], he sometimes gets criticised as well… I think other players will get compliments for a nine out of 10, but he gets criticised for that.“He had similar form to last season, but there were one or two moments this season where he could have done better defensively and he got criticised for that straightaway.

Maybe he should see it as a compliment, because that’s where he set the bar from.”Virgil van Dijk even takes criticism so well As Slot mentioned, van Dijk could still have a good game and come under fire, showing just how good he is and how high the bar is set.However, he has shown that he does not let this get to him and will stick up for himself and his teammates whenever he can.This has been proven in recent weeks with the Wayne Rooney situation, with van Dijk confronting him during a post-match interview even though it was supposed to be Conor Bradley on media duties.Rooney then changed his opinion and admitted his comments were harsh, showing how the Dutchman handled it so well and got the outcome he deserved.Van Dijk truly has been one of Liverpool’s best ever captains and has won everything with them, but he still has a year-and-a-half to make his already amazing legacy even greater.