Virgil van Dijk will line up alongside one of Jeremy Jacquet or Ronald Araujo next weekend when the new Premier League season kicks off for Liverpool away at Newcastle
Jeremy Jacquet and Virgil van Dijk before Liverpool vs Como
Jeremy Jacquet and Virgil van Dijk before Liverpool vs Como(Image: Darren Staples / AFP via Getty Images)
When Virgil van Dijk lines up for Liverpool against Newcastle next weekend, he will do so alongside a new center-back partner in the first game of a new era.
Ibrahima Konate has departed and Joe Gomez is injured, so Andoni Iraola will select one of Jeremy Jacquet — who was excellent against Como this weekend — or Ronald Araujo, who made his debut in the second half. Either way, Van Dijk was pleased with what he saw from both players on their first appearance, even if he is keen not to get carried away.
"I think Jeremy did well, same as Ronald," Van Dijk told reporters. "It's a start, a good start, so hopefully he can crack on.
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"I think (Jacquet) came out of it a bit tired, but it's absolutely normal when you're playing your first 45 minutes after such a long time. Now it's down to him to recover. We'll be back on the pitch tomorrow morning, and then we're working towards Newcastle. St James' Park will be always a tough one."
Across the pitch, there are new relationships being forged. Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, having played so little together last season because of the former's injury issues, for instance, need to work on their connection.
The same can be said of a Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai midfield pivot, which is still being worked out, and at the back as well, with Jacquet only 45 minutes into his Liverpool career.
Jeremy Jacquet was very impressive for Liverpool against Como
Jeremy Jacquet was very impressive for Liverpool against Como(Image: Simon Stacpoole/Offside via Getty Images)
"By playing games," Van Dijk said when asked how he intends to build on the chemistry. "I won't say it's the only way, but games are totally different than training.
"Jeremy's English is, I would say, a bit better than Ronald's, but at the end of the day, we are all pretty good footballers. We can see and smell some moments on how to defend certain situations. But it's pretty clear that you need to form a connection together and that takes a bit of time. In my opinion, that's absolutely normal, but hopefully we can get that going as quickly as possible."
Liverpool ended preseason with a win and also managed to show an increased level of sharpness compared to the week prior. Cody Gakpo scored, and Jacquet found the back of the net too. When the Reds saw a 2-0 lead turned around against Monaco, Iraola called on his players to improve, and seven days later, they managed to control things much better.
"What I see is that no team in world football can play full intensity for 90 minutes," Van Dijk said. "Obviously at a certain point, you're going to have some moments where players — or we all — get to a position where we're going to be a bit tired.
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"Then it's down to us to make sure that we are compact and find the right moment to press again. I think we did that much better than we did the last game. Obviously everyone's eager to go and to press and keep their intensity up, but it's a team game and we need everyone together in order to be able to do that.
"That goes in phases through the game. But if you do that at the right time, at the right moment, then you don't need to run as much as we sometimes do. That means at times when there is a throw-in, a free kick, you have to maybe play it even quicker in order to keep the ball a little bit longer. But it's a process, and we're working on that.
"Today, there was definitely improvement in my opinion. Obviously when you play the previous two games, you are 2-0 up and you give it away, I think that's something you can't have happening again. I'm glad we did much better in that sense."