4 days ago
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Liverpool coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst has opened up about how he wanted Feyenoord to sign Virgil van Dijk.
The former Netherlands international joined the Reds this summer as part of Arne Slot’s reshaping of the backroom staff ahead of the new season. The departure of John Heitinga, who left to take up a first-team coaching role at Ajax, created the vacancy that Liverpool have now filled.
While many ex-players use coaching positions as a springboard to bigger managerial roles, Van Bronckhorst is taking a step back from the spotlight following several stints as a head coach. His most recent managerial role ended in November when he was dismissed by Besiktas, but his vast experience on and off the pitch is expected to be a valuable asset to Liverpool’s setup.
In an interview with the club's website, the 50-year-old has spoken on his admiration for Van Dijk. He said: "He is the captain.
"I have followed almost the whole of his career, from being an assistant at Feyenoord trying to get him there when he was playing at Groningen and Ronald Koeman was our coach.
"I have seen him making his steps in football with Willem II, Groningen, Celtic, Southampton and Liverpool now. He has developed into one of the best defenders in the world and you can see he is the captain of this team with how he represents this club and how everyone in the club looks at him as the captain.
"Now I am working with him every day and you see what he means for this team. He is very important."
On the pitch, Van Bronckhorst has been particularly struck by the mentality of the players he has worked with almost every day over the past month.
“I’ve been impressed by the quality of the players, yes,” he added. “To be competitive in all the competitions we face, you have the quality but I think the most important thing in being involved in successful set-ups is character.
“The character we have in this group and the desire of the players to become better, to be competitive every day, that is what you notice.
"No matter what kind of exercises we’re doing on the pitch, you see the competition is really high and everyone wants to win, which makes it very competitive for us as well to make sure everything is done right.
“If you make one mistake as a coach on the pitch and the player loses... you have to be really spot-on! Because of the environment we create and the players create with their character and attitude, they are also very competitive in the games and that’s what we want.
"We want to be competitive, we want to win every game and you can see that desire even in the little games we play to do the body wake-up in the morning, little games in warm-ups, in training... it’s everywhere.
“That’s the environment the club and, of course, Arne with the staff has created in the last years – and also Jurgen [Klopp] as well before. You can see it is the DNA of this club and we are just here to continue that and make sure it is maintained.”
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