Virgil van Dijk: We Got The Three Points And That’s What Matters

There’s probably some debate over who made the mistake that led to Fulham’s goal on Sunday at Craven Cottage. Thankfully the match ended well with Liverpool getting a win at the end but for Fulham to equalize in the second half was... not fun to watch. James Milner, who scored the match winner from a penalty given in the 81st minute, took some responsibility for the mistake, but watching from home it looked much like a mixup in communication between Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk.

“It’s one of those situations where you try to head it back. The ball was a little too short and it was a difficult ball to get, and Ryan was good to intercept the ball and score the goal,” Van Dijk told the club website following the match on Sunday.

“It gave them some belief but obviously that happens sometimes in games. Mistakes are a part of football, you have to take it and I will as well.”

To be fair, the strength of a team can truly be seen when multiple people stand up to take responsibility for a nearly dire mistake. And of course, the real argument is that the game could’ve easily been killed off by a second goal to put Fulham’s hopes to bed and our big Virg knows that too.

“I think in the first half we could have maybe killed the game and scored a second goal and make it a little bit easier,” Van Dijk continued.

“In the second half they obviously had belief and they could play freely as they have nothing really to lose. I think we made it pretty difficult for ourselves with the goal we conceded obviously, but in the end we got the three points and that’s what matters.”

Thankfully, with this win Liverpool have been able to regain their status at the top of the league table and are in a better place to defend it with the upcoming 7 matches. After a much needed rest for many players during the upcoming international break, and a couple important players returning to the squad, Liverpool are in the best place they could be.

“[It’s] not bad, no. The media makes it sound even negative sometimes!” van Dijk added, speaking to the squad’s prospects for the rest of the season.

“It’s a fantastic position that we are in and we have to enjoy it but you know we want to go all the way. It’s going to be tough because Manchester City are fantastic and the Champions League is very tough like we know, so we’ll see. We will take it game by game.”