Diop: You Always Learn from the Best
Saturday, 5th Sep 2026 09:49 by Kallum Brisset
Town defender Issa Diop expressed his desire to learn from players like Virgil van Dijk following the Blues’ 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Portman Road.
Alexander Isak’s quickfire double inside the first nine minutes was enough to continue his fine goalscoring run on Suffolk soil and condemn Gary O’Neil to a first home defeat as Town boss.
From there, the Blues responded to prevent any further damage but failed to register many clear-cut opportunities and never appeared likely to get back into the game.
Experienced centre-back Diop, having come up against the Reds for the ninth time in his career, admitted he can still take plenty of lessons from facing former Ballon d’Or runner-up Van Dijk.
“You always learn from the best,” he said. “He is one of the best or maybe the best defenders in Premier League history. It's always good to play against players like that, to learn and to see what they do on the pitch.”
The first 10 minutes were tough for Town, who found themselves with a mountain to climb in the blink of an eye after Isak twice latched onto pinpoint passes from Cody Gakpo to fire the visitors in front.
From thereafter, Diop was relatively pleased with how his side settled.
He said: “Of course, we could have done better. As always, even if they have quality, we can always do better when we concede a goal. We're going to work on it this week and we're going to be ready to face Palace.
“It’s even harder when it’s against Liverpool, a top side like that. The good thing is that the response after the second goal was good. We stuck together and we reacted well.
“We stuck together and I think we responded well and we didn't concede. Second half, I didn't think they created much and it was even better. That's a good start to work on.
“That was a good test for us. First off, mentally we responded well, but now we need to fix some stuff on the pitch, tactically and all of that. It was a good game, now we have a long week to work and that's what we’re going to do.”
Having been at the club for little more than six weeks, Diop is continuing to establish partnerships in the backline with Dara O’Shea and Jacob Greaves, alongside new goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen behind him.
While he has been pleased with the progress so far, the 29-year-old admitted the Blues are still in the process of getting to know his teammates and that the cohesion will only improve with time.
“I've settled in,” he said. “It’s a good group and good coaching staff, so I'm very happy here.
“It still doesn't look like a team, which is normal because we have 14 new players and we’ve only known each other for a couple of weeks. It's going to take time, but I think what we've done since pre-season is good and it's going to be better and better.
“I think they have adapted well. It's the Prem, it's a tough league, maybe the toughest league in the world, but I think everybody has adapted well and responded well to the standards of the Prem.
“Everything takes time. We have a lot of new players, but it's easier for me because they were here last season and they're very good players, so they make it easier for me.
“They're really talented players, so they know what to do. But obviously, I’m always happy to give advice and try to help my teammates. I think that's my role and I'm happy with that, so that’s what I'm going to do.
“We can improve in everything. We're still a new team, so we're going to work and we're going to be ready to face Palace next weekend.
“We're going to have more time to work together and to fix and to know each other, so it's good.”
After gaining an important victory on the opening day against Sunderland at Portman Road, Diop still sees three points from the opening three matches as a reasonable return.
He said: “I think it's not bad. Of course, it could have been better, but it's not bad. Now the most important thing is what is in front of us, not what's happened, and we're looking forward to the game against Palace.
“It’s going to be good because we're going to have time to work, especially tactically because a lot of new players may be thinking in different ways. The only thing that’s going to tell us if we worked well is going to be the game against Palace.
“Every game is difficult and every game is tough in the Prem. The last two games we lost, so now we focus on the next one against Palace before Everton.”
Despite the defeats to Manchester United and Liverpool, Diop is sure that the confidence gained from beating the Black Cats remains in camp and that the latest results can only be seen as a setback.
The Morocco international said: “It cannot be more than that. Now we have time to look at the image, what we've done good, what we've done bad, and go back and look forward to playing Palace next weekend.”
On the reaction of manager O’Neil, Diop added: “He’s still optimistic. He was really positive and I think he's right, because it's just the beginning of the season. We have a lot of new players, so we need time and we’re going to have time now to work and to know each other better.”
Photo: TWTD
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