It is not uncommon for any newly appointed head coach or manager to proactively reach out to senior players at their new club, just as Rafael Benítez did in his day.
Yet even amid this World Cup summer, once Andoni Iraola’s future on Merseyside is officially confirmed, connecting with veteran squad members should be his top priority.
Liverpool’s playing squad has undergone a complete transformation over the past 12 months, most recently losing two core leaders – Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson. Goalkeeper Alisson Becker’s future also hung in the balance for some time, though he now appears likely to stay at the club.
This upheaval means Virgil van Dijk, who like Alisson has just one year remaining on his contract, now holds more influence in Liverpool’s dressing room than ever before.
Of course, he is the captain, but his responsibilities are also immense. He serves as the team’s primary spokesperson – last season, the only player at Liverpool who conducted more media interviews than van Dijk was Arne Slot – and he remains one of the most consistent performers in the squad.
During the 2025-26 campaign, he played every single minute of the Premier League season, becoming the oldest outfield player in Premier League history to achieve this feat at the age of 34.
Given the turmoil and difficulties surrounding the team, it is hardly surprising that van Dijk has increasingly struggled to contain his frustration, particularly after the FA Cup defeat to Manchester City, when he openly stated that the players had let themselves, Arne Slot and Liverpool fans down.
Considering van Dijk’s status, Iraola will inevitably speak with him sooner or later, but this conversation could hold far greater significance than merely following informal protocol.
Van Dijk is now the longest-serving player at the club, second only to Curtis Jones, who came through the club’s academy and joined at the age of five. Like Alisson (and to some extent Jones, who only established himself as a first-team regular in 2020), van Dijk represents the last remaining link to Liverpool’s glory days under Jürgen Klopp.
Klopp may be irreplaceable, and it is understandable that some Liverpool fans wish to move on from the Klopp era to avoid being trapped in the past.
Iraola and Klopp may have very different personalities, but they share some similarities in terms of training intensity and playing style. This is one of the reasons he emerged as a leading candidate to replace Slot: decision-makers at Anfield believe not only that his footballing philosophy is more in line with current trends, but also that it is more likely to resonate with Anfield supporters, who were already captivated by the fighting spirit of Klopp’s teams.
Van Dijk understands better than anyone at Liverpool what this will entail, and if he believes in Iraola’s plans, leading this team – which requires restructuring and integration due to varying levels of experience and positional issues – will be much easier.
Under Klopp, training sessions were lengthy, and players often missed the chance to drop off or pick up their children from school. Liverpool achieved success, but over time, the players became physically and mentally exhausted. Slot was similarly rigorous but granted players greater freedom, and everyone embraced this new coaching approach.
Slot and the players later faced criticism for allegedly holding overly short training sessions, yet Liverpool’s records show that players had fewer rest days in Slot’s second season than in Klopp’s final campaign.
However, somehow the idea that Liverpool players were “training smarter” was misinterpreted as training becoming easier than before, standards dropping, and players feeling insufficiently challenged, as they often fell behind opponents in terms of running even against teams that struggled without the ball.
If Iraola continues with the coaching methods that helped Bournemouth rise through the ranks, he will transform Liverpool’s culture, and the players will have to adapt to a training rhythm of six or seven days a week.
Earlier this year, Antoine Semenyo was asked if he had seen the benefits of Iraola’s intense training methods after the manager took charge in 2023. Semenyo admitted that Bournemouth’s players needed time to adjust to the weekly training schedule. “We had no rest days, nothing at all,” he stated.
Semenyo’s impressive performances under Iraola helped him secure a move to Manchester City. He recalled training sessions on Sundays after Saturday matches: “You’d train for 30 or 40 minutes, and your legs would be completely drained.”
Initially, Bournemouth’s results were not promising, but as players gradually adapted to the risks associated with Iraola’s preferred man-marking defensive system, the team’s performances improved accordingly.
This experience serves as a reminder that Iraola’s tactics will take time to be accepted by the players. If, as was the case at Bournemouth, Iraola fails to win any of his first ten matches in charge of Liverpool, he will quickly find himself in a difficult position.
However, if he can win van Dijk’s support, the likelihood of this scenario occurring will undoubtedly be significantly reduced. The players’ reaction following Slot’s departure even highlighted the profound influence van Dijk wields.
Previously, not a single player publicly paid tribute to the outgoing manager, which raised some eyebrows until van Dijk posted a brief farewell message on social media. After that, other players followed suit.
Van Dijk is well aware of his importance at Liverpool. He takes his captaincy duties seriously and sets high standards for himself and those around him. In fact, Iraola needs van Dijk to identify with him and his tactical philosophy.
