Do Liverpool defender van Dijk’s comments portray leadership or delusion?

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Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk is targeting the quadruple this year.

The Dutchman, signed for £75 million from Southampton in January, has been speaking in the aftermath of the Reds’ 3-2 Champions League victory over Paris Saint-Germain.

Jurgen Klopp’s side took all three points at Anfield thanks to a last-gasp Roberto Firmino winner, after the French champions levelled the scores at 2-2 after being 2-0 down.

It was a sweet way for Liverpool to kick off their European campaign.

They were much the better side and deserved to win the game.

Positivity is high at the club following the result, and van Dijk is shooting for the stars.

‘We want to win everything’

He said, as quoted by the Independent: “Everyone is excited, everyone is feeling good, everyone wanted to be part of this. And you know, we know the season is very long, we have four competitions to play in, and you know – we want to win everything, that is basically our mindset, otherwise, you’d better stop.

“You need to have ambitions, and with the size of this club, with the people around here and the history of the club, we want to try and win everything. It’s going to be hard, it’s going to be something very difficult to do, but you know we are going to just try it.

“That is the only way forward… We want to compete for every competition like we did last year, and we wanted to start well this time.”

Defiance or delusion?

van Dijk’s comments have been received positively by Liverpool fans but cynically by most others.

There is always the risk of these things coming back to haunt players.

But perhaps it is a risk worth taking, and van Dijk is certainly the man to be issuing the rallying cry.

The centre-half plays the game with authority. He shows great leadership on the pitch, and he appears to be doing the exact same here.

He’s been imperious since his move to Anfield. Arguably, he is now the leader the club has been missing since Steven Gerrard.

van Dijk is a commanding figure. His presence at the back could certainly see Liverpool finally win some silverware under Klopp this season.

Realistically Liverpool aren’t winning the quadruple, but fans will definitely believe one or two are possible.