‘He never stops…’ – Kevin Nolan says Liverpool have a ‘brilliant leader’ in their squad
Kevin Nolan has heaped praise on a ‘brilliant leader’ within the Liverpool squad that Arne Slot has inherited from Jurgen Klopp.
Although plenty has changed at Anfield over the summer, with a substantially altered composition of backroom staff in tandem with the main handover in the dugout, the identity of the Reds’ captain provides some continuity between the two regimes.
Speaking on talkSPORT, the Toxeth native – who until May worked alongside new LFC assistant coach Johnny Heitinga as part of David Moyes’ setup at West Ham – hailed the leadership traits of the ever-vocal Virgil van Dijk.
Nolan said: “Virgil van Dijk, what he does for Liverpool – he never stops talking, he never shuts up. He is a brilliant leader.”
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The ex-Bolton midfielder’s comments follow off the back of Van Dijk’s own admission in recent days that he’s ‘always shouting’ at his Liverpool teammates on the pitch.
The exits of Adrian and Thiago Alcantara over the summer have left the 33-year-old as the oldest player in the Reds’ first-team squad, although it’s not just his biological seniority which makes him stand out as the ideal leader for his side.
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When we played Greuther Furth in a behind-closed-doors friendly 12 months ago – just before previous skipper Jordan Henderson departed, as it turned out – it was noted how the Dutchman could be heard ‘bellowing instructions’ throughout the match.
Van Dijk leads by example, and not just because he’s so vocal, but also by consistently delivering high-quality performances from the heart of defence.
Nolan’s glowing reference for our number 4 makes for a welcome antidote to the endless barrage of criticism that our captain faces in his native country, with Dutch pundits queuing up to harass him throughout Euro 2024 despite him playing a key role in their run to the semi-finals, their best finish at the tournament in 20 years.
They mightn’t appreciate him but Liverpool fans certainly do, and Slot will no doubt be leaning heavily on his skipper to fulfil his duty as on-field general over the coming season.
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