Liverpool’s meek title defence exposed a lack of leadership within the dressing room and, as Virgil van Dijk enters what could be his final season on Merseyside, we might be looking at the last of a dying breed.
Comparison is so often the thief of joy in football and, having seen iterations of Van Dijk that included coming within a whisker of a Ballon d’Or, some supporters have been quick to diminish the skipper’s contribution to an admittedly bleak title defence.
In truth, we are still looking at one of the standouts and a legend penning his own specifications for the playing and leadership posts vacated through his eventual departure.
Replacing one of the greatest defenders the sport has seen is a hefty burden, setting aside the implications that come with finding a new bicep on which to bestow the armband.
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At Liverpool, though, that is no excuse for not trying and the process involved in making it happen has to start long before the final chapter.
A whirlwind campaign
It might feel like another lifetime now, but Liverpool’s 2025/26 campaign started with breathtaking – albeit unsustainable – fireworks.
Opening with seven straight wins in all competitions, the Reds looked for all the world like they meant business and that the season would follow seamlessly on from the previous.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Wednesday, September 17, 2025: Liverpool's captain Virgil van Dijk celebrates after the final whistle during the UEFA Champions League match between Liverpool FC and Atletico Madrid FC at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
With the benefit of hindsight, we can now deduce that the problems in front of us today can justifiably be traced back as far as the League Cup final defeat to Newcastle in March 2025, but it was against those same opponents that Van Dijk underlined his eternal value to the enterprise almost six months later.
Very little of what the Reds’ No. 4 has been required to do across the last eight years could be described as last-ditch or frenetic.
The unremitting nature of his poise is what so much of his presence has been built upon and attending to a late, aerial onslaught courtesy of a 10-man Newcastle at St. James’ Park ought to be deemed bread and butter.
Liverpool blinked twice, buckled and were ultimately rescued by a winger legally unable to book himself a driving lesson, but it was also one of many occasions where the captain offered glimpses of what it will one day need to look like without him.
Shouldering the burdens
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, May 9, 2026: Liverpool's captain Virgil van Dijk after the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Chelsea FC at Anfield. The game ended 1-1. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Hitting 35 in July, much of the current Van Dijk discourse understandably centres around futureproofing the back line, but this remains a man who has played more minutes than any footballer among the top five European leagues.
We would all love for that to continue forever and there is no immediate indication that the big man couldn’t operate at the top level deep into his 30s. Liverpool, however, must work off the assumption that that won’t be the case.
On the one hand, you could make the argument that only Dominik Szoboszlai has had a more influential campaign than Van Dijk.
On the other, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assert that he has faced as many questions in the last 12 months as in the rest of his Anfield career combined.
PARIS, FRANCE - Wednesday, April 8, 2026: Liverpool's captain Virgil van Dijk during the UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 1st Leg match between Paris Saint-Germain FC and Liverpool FC at the Parc des Princes. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Liverpool’s largely self-imposed capitulation as champions has directed a microscope upon the most senior of the dressing room characters. Van Dijk would admit himself that sort of thing comes with the responsibility of captaincy at a club of this size.
This is, after all, a player who sits alongside Steven Gerrard, Mohamed Salah and Luis Suarez on an untouchable Liverpool Mount Rushmore of the Premier League era. Depending on your poison or metric, he could conceivably be considered the best of the lot.
It was his highest-scoring season in red and that counts for something in a season otherwise lacking attacking potency, not least when one of those six goals comes in the 100th minute at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Replacing the irreplaceable
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Sunday, April 19, 2026: Liverpool's captain Virgil van Dijk celebrates after scoring the winning second goal in the 10th minute of injury time during the FA Premier League match between Everton FC and Liverpool FC, the 248th Merseyside Derby, at Bramley-Moore Dock. Liverpool won 2-1. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Working out what a post-Van Dijk universe should comprise is far from straightforward and will likely involve input from the man himself along with the usual suspects.
It was telling that, in April, the defender felt compelled to divulge that he will be sharing his “opinion” on who ought to replace the outgoing Andy Robertson as his deputy for 2026/27, particularly given the fact that person is likely to become his successor further down the line.
Van Dijk may have only formally been handed the armband in the summer of 2024, but he has been the designated grown-up at the back since the day he walked through the door and that in itself presents complications when deciphering where to look next.
That said, natural leaders at the elite level are in shorter supply than in previous generations.
The Dutchman could well become the last man standing as far as the recognised, established leadership group is concerned and the Reds may have to get creative in their efforts to set the standards from next season.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Sunday, May 24, 2026: Liverpool's captain Virgil van Dijk during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Brentford FC at Anfield. The game ended in a 1-1 draw. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Joe Gomez’s future is an automatic discussion point every 12 months; Ibrahima Konate is leaving; the new guard – Giovanni Leoni and Jeremy Jacquet – have the world at their feet but a combined age that still falls short of James Milner’s.
In the meantime, the 34-year-old bids to become a World Cup-winning captain with the Netherlands and as someone with little skin in the game, it would be a joy to see him elevate his status in the game to irrefutable heights by making history with his country.
You can’t replace Virgil van Dijk, certainly not in any tangible symbolic sense, but Liverpool’s job is to lay the foundations for what’s next while always remaining capable of winning in the present. The captain will be central to both.
Best moment: The winner in the derby. Could it really be anything else?
Worst moment: A passenger in the dour 4-1 defeat at home to PSV back in November, although he certainly wasn’t alone.
Role next season: If this is to be his swansong, active involvement in handing over the baton to the next generation – preferably with some silverware sprinkled in.