‘Falling apart’ – Virgil van Dijk throws down challenge to Liverpool teammates in stark message

On the topic of who succeeds Robertson as vice-captain, Van Dijk didn’t mention any names but said that he ‘definitely’ has his ‘opinion’ on who’d be best-placed to step into that role.

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

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Liverpool need new leaders to emerge soon

Once this season has finished, Liverpool will have seen Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Robertson depart in the space of three years, with all except the Egyptian serving as either captain or vice-captain.

That’s quite the drain of leadership and experience from the squad since the 2022/23 campaign, and it seems likely that Van Dijk will move on next year once his current contract ends, by which time he’ll be coming up to his 36th birthday.

There’s a palpable sense that the Reds are in the midst of a major transition between the fading embers of the core Klopp-era group and the team that the current regime are trying to build, and the reality is that new leaders will need to emerge in the near future.

To his credit, Dominik Szoboszlai has already pledged to assume more responsibility within the dressing room, and as captain of Hungary for several years, our number 8 seems well-placed to succeed Robertson as vice-skipper at Liverpool.

He shouldn’t be expected to take on a leadership role all on his own, though, and Van Dijk has publicly thrown down the challenge to his teammates to fill the void that the exits of Salah and Robertson will leave.

There are enough players with ample experience in the squad to step up as dressing room figureheads over the next year or two – let’s hope they can demonstrably do that in a time of significant generational change at Anfield.