Virgil van Dijk Issues Warning for Liverpool's 2024/25 Season

Virgil van Dijk has drawn a hard line under last season and fired a warning shot for the one about to begin: anything resembling Liverpool’s 2024/25 campaign will not be tolerated.

The captain did not sugar-coat it. “For me personally, being a Liverpool player, last year was unacceptable," he said.

Liverpool went into last season as champions of England and ended it limping over the line. Twelve league defeats, 20 in all competitions, and a fifth-place finish that felt like a let-off rather than an achievement, even if it did secure Champions League football. Within days, Arne Slot was gone.

New boss, new tone

Into that vacuum stepped Andoni Iraola. The Basque coach, fresh from his spell at Bournemouth and available as a free agent, signed a two-year deal in early June. Pre-season has already offered a glimpse of what he wants this Liverpool side to be: quicker, braver, more front-foot.

Van Dijk is all in.

“If you look at Bournemouth last year (under Iraola), I think they were pretty exciting," he said. “I would say if we keep working, keep believing, keep showing our quality, staying fit, and hopefully win a lot of games then we can be very excited. That's the aim, that’s what we fight for, but we all know how tough it is.”

The new era starts on Sunday away at Newcastle United. Van Dijk will be leading Liverpool into his 10th season at the club, but he made it clear the weight of the shirt has to be felt throughout the dressing room.

“We have to show how much we care, how much we want to fight for this badge and also realise how privileged we are to be playing for Liverpool,” he said. “This year we have an opportunity to turn that around, together with our fans.”

No passengers

The language was pointed. The message was collective.

“If you don't up for the challenge, then you're not at the right place,” Van Dijk said. “What I feel at the moment is everyone is up for the challenge. Let's see how we go about it.

“But I'm really looking forward to this season and I don't think we have a point to prove to anyone.”

The scars of last season remain, but Van Dijk wants them to drive standards, not drag them down. The captain spoke of embracing the grind of a four-front campaign rather than fearing it.

“We all know how tough it is to be playing Premier League football, to be playing on all four fronts, but you have to embrace it. You have to enjoy the ride,” he said. “We are all so blessed here and we have to keep going and enjoy it and that's what I will do, and I encourage everyone to do that as well. That's what I keep saying to the boys as well so let's see."

New partner, same demands

At the heart of Iraola’s rebuild lies a big call in Van Dijk’s own territory. The Dutchman will start the season with a new centre-back partner, with the head coach weighing up whether to throw £60m signing Jeremy Jacquet straight into the Premier League or lean on the nous of Ronald Araujo, who joined on loan from Barcelona earlier this month.

Whoever gets the nod, Van Dijk’s expectations do not change.

“We need a squad that is able to compete on all four fronts and that’s the only way to try to be successful,” he said. “Let’s see what the last couple of weeks of the transfer window will bring and then let’s go for it.”

Last year, Liverpool stumbled from champions to also-rans. Van Dijk’s message, on the eve of a new campaign under Iraola, is blunt: that cannot happen again.