‘I think’ – Van Dijk disagrees with 22-year-old Liverpool teammate over Arne Slot comments | OneFootball

Virgil van Dijk has now claimed that Arne Slot is yet to introduce any major tactical changes this term, despite Ryan Gravenberch holding a different opinion on the matter.

The Reds are off to a flying start under the Dutch manager, sitting on top of the Premier League table and facing only one defeat in 10 games.

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Asked to assess the campaign so far and the new boss’ impact, the centre-back said (via the Premier League’s YouTube channel): “Everything has been so far, so good. I think we still have so much to improve. But the start, I think everyone can be happy with where we’re at at the moment with the results. Some of the games have been not as good as we’d like to be but we still got a result.

“It’s going to be a long season, we have so many games left [and] players are getting used to the demands of the new coach. But in terms of changes tactically or any of that, there’s not [been] major changes.”

Just a few days ago, speaking to Liverpoolfc.com, Gravenberch had a slightly different opinion about the same question: “We are doing different exercises. [Jürgen] Klopp had his exercises and the coach likes to do his own exercises so I think it’s a bit different this season, but as I said it has been nice.

“I think he likes everything in position, for us to be in possession and to kill the opponent with passes.”

Tactical changes between Klopp & Slot are evident despite Van Dijk claim

(Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)

Perhaps it’s the position on the field and their status at Liverpool which prompted the two national teammates to answer the question differently.

While Gravenberch was a shadow of his current self last season and was unable to lock down a starting spot under Jurgen Klopp, he is one of the first names on the team sheet this campaign.

Van Dijk, on the other hand, has been one of the Reds’ best players since his signing and would be a dream player for any manager in the world.

From a fan perspective, there definitely seem to be tactical shifts when compared to life under the German manager. Slot prefers more passing out from the back, has shifted Trent Alexander-Arnold to a traditional right-back role out of possession and focuses strongly on defensive set-up.

The underlying numbers show that Liverpool have the best defensive record in the league and the midfield looks much better and more organised – although that could be because of Gravenberch’s resurgence!

At the end of the day, what matters is that the players are content with the boss and the results are coming in. Klopp wrote a wonderful story at Anfield and we hope that Slot builds on that by winning everything there is to win with the Reds.