It has been a disappointing few weeks for Liverpool as their trophy ambitions for the season took fatal blow after fatal blow.
Unless something truly extraordinary happens over the next two-and-a-half weeks, Liverpool will end Jurgen Klopp’s final season with just one trophy.
Having been a campaign that promised so much, 2023/24 is limping to an end for the Reds. With players like Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez going off the boil of late, the narrative of the year has changed.
However, when assessing seasons, it’s important to see the bigger picture. Back in the Champions League and with another trophy to show, it has been a better year than perhaps expected at Anfield.
After most of the first-team squad struggled so poorly in 2022/23, there have been improvements all around. And there is one player above all who has taken everything thrown at him and really stepped up this year.
Micah Richards hails Virgil van Dijk season
Looking pretty certain to finish the Premier League season in third place, it seems unlikely that a Liverpool player will win any of the big individual awards.
Some will certainly be in the wider conversation for player of the year, but it would be a surprise to see a winner from Anfield now.
Had there been one though, it would surely have been Virgil van Dijk. The captain has been immense all season long.
Having been widely chastised for a drop in his output last year, Van Dijk has stepped up to shut just about every critic up. Even more impressive is that he’s done it without a settled centre-back partner. And speaking to The Rest Is Football podcast, pundit Micah Richards has hailed the Dutchman.
“I think Van Dijk has been outstanding this season,” raved the former Man City defender.
“But he has constantly had to chop and change centre-half partners whether that’s Konate or Quansah. It has been difficult. He has had to be flawless for big parts of the season.”
Who will be Van Dijk’s partner in 2024/25
As Richards points out, it has been chop and change for Van Dijk in terms of his partner this season. While he has started 33 league games, Konate has began 17, Quansah 10 and Joel Matip nine. It could hardly have been more unsettled.
As a result, Liverpool are reportedly looking for a new centre-back to add to the squad this summer.
For now, the strongest links have been to Eintracht Frankfurt’s Willian Pacho. However, there are others supposedly on the table, too.
It also should be pointed out that Van Dijk’s own future is not yet certain. With just a year left to run on his contract, that is a situation that needs sorting out.
The smart money should be on Virgil staying, though. And while Konate is still the best bet to be his primary partner next season, there’ll likely be a new face pushing him all the way.
