Virgil van Dijk on Super Cup aim, Adrian and female referee
"We are ready," insisted Virgil van Dijk as he looked ahead to Liverpool's UEFA Super Cup showdown with Chelsea in Istanbul on Wednesday night.
Van Dijk was part of a pre-match press conference with teammate Sadio Mane and manager Jürgen Klopp on the eve of the annual one-off tie that pits the Champions League and Europa League winners against each other.
During the chat with the media, the Reds’ No.4 discussed the team’s determination to claim the silverware at Besiktas Park and the prospect of working with Adrian due to the injury sustained by first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
Van Dijk was also asked about the appointment of Stephanie Frappart as the referee for the game, the first female official to take charge of a major UEFA men’s competition fixture.
Read a summary of the defender’s responses below and watch the full press conference via our official YouTube channel…
On playing against a team Liverpool know so well…
I think it could work in both favours, they know us and we know them. But the most important thing is it’s just one game, one final, anything can happen. We know we’re at the start of the season, everyone is coming back from having their break, but everyone should be ready. We are ready. We’re looking forward to it, we want to win that trophy and we’re going to do everything that’s possible to hopefully hold the trophy.
On working together with new signing Adrian…
Adrian has been in now for his second week. We have been working day in, day out. For him it’s obviously very good that he starts playing straight away; it’s not the situation you hope to be in, that Alisson is injured and you have to come in, but he’s experienced enough to go out there and show his qualities because he has plenty of quality. He played for so many years in the Premier League and we could already see in training how good he can be. He needs our support – we all do it together, we defend together. We need him there, he needs us as well. He will definitely do the job.
On being in contention for individual awards…
Those decisions are going to be made over the next months and I have no influence on that. I’m very honoured to be named and be talked about in those kinds of things. But the only thing I can do is just keep working, keep playing, fulfil my potential, want to get better every day – and that’s what I try to do. If people want to recognise me with awards, obviously I’ll take it but it’s not the main thing. The most important thing is to focus on your club and that’s what I’m doing, on my team and on myself to progress as a player and as a human being.
On the appointment of Frappart as referee…
I think gender is irrelevant if the quality is there and it is there, because otherwise she wouldn’t be appointed for this game. It doesn’t really matter. If you look at her CV, she did so many good games and they made the right decision. Gender doesn’t matter at all.