Virgil van Dijk was appointed as the new club captain after the departure of former captain Jordan Henderson in the summer and his first move as skipper was to introduce the Celtic Huddle…
Virgil van Dijk has been speaking about this season being appointed as the captain at Liverpool and revealed that his time at Celtic was the reason behind his first major change leading the Anfield club.
The former Celtic centre half introduced the Huddle to Liverpool and the Dutchman explained his reasoning for this move. “It was something that we did when I was a Celtic player,” he said, speaking to Liverpool Echo.
“And I always liked it because I thought it set the tone for the game and it also gave the crowd a signal that we were ready to go.”
The Liverpool captain added: “It can also help the atmosphere with it being so close to the match starting, so if our fans want to join in by building up the noise and adding to the sense of anticipation I certainly won’t complain, even if it makes it difficult for me to make myself heard.”
Clearly Virgil is honoured to follow in the footsteps of so many great former Liverpool captains including the likes of Matt Busby, Tommy Smith, Emlyn Hughes, Phil Thompson, Alan Hansen , Ronnie Whelan and our former manager John Barnes.
Curiously Kenny Dalglish, regarded as Liverpool’s greatest ever player, was never appointed as Liverpool captain.
Virgil van Dijk is clearly thrilled to walk in the footstep of those club legends. “This club has had some incredible captains over the years,” he said. “Leaders who would bring the best out of themselves and their team time and time again. So to be on the list with people like that is definitely not the kind of thing that I would have expected when I started playing.
“But the most important thing for me is that I am part of a team of leaders, individually, who find their own way to take responsibility no matter who is wearing the armband.”
