Captain Virgil van Dijk thinks the praise being lavished on Liverpool as the best team in Europe is merely a validation for the way head coach Arne Slot has them playing and no-one is believing the general hype.
For the second successive match the opposition manager – on this occasion Lille’s Bruno Genesio after their 2-1 defeat at Anfield – said the Reds were the benchmark other teams should aspire to.
After a seventh successive Champions League victory left Liverpool needing a point at most from their final game to guarantee top spot in the table, having already secured a place in the last 16, it is not the wildest take to label the Premier League leaders the best right now.
“I think it sort of gives confirmation we are on the right track,” said Van Dijk.
“We work in every game so hard to be a very difficult team to beat. When other managers are giving you praise for not only the way you attack, but defend as well as a group, and the bodies you get back behind the ball that is only a good sign and credit to all the hard work each and every one has been putting in.
“That’s the only thing we should take from it and other than that it is just focusing on doing it and staying consistent.”
Lille scored with their only shot on target in a game largely controlled by their hosts but that strike brought to an end the team’s run of not conceding, stretching back nine hours and 59 minutes to the opening stages of their first group game against AC Milan.
That set a new club record, surpassing the mark set by Rafael Benitez’s side of 2005-06, but Jonathan David’s strike irked Van Dijk.
“Yeah. I don’t like to concede at all but, in my eyes, when you have total control it shouldn’t happen,” he added.
“But it’s part of football and it happened but after that it didn’t cost us anything. It is something we have to improve.”
Sunday will mark a year since former manager Jurgen Klopp shocked the footballing world by announcing he would leave at the end of the season.
He knew he was leaving the club in a strong position but probably even he could not have envisaged how well Slot would pick up the baton.
“If we have surprised ourselves, I don’t know,” said the Netherlands captain.
“I know this squad already for a couple of years so there are not many changes; obviously the biggest change is the manager and the staff and how he wants us to play and I think we adapted to that pretty quickly.
“I don’t think there are major tweaks but what has been changed I think the boys have been doing brilliantly and that has been shown and we have to keep that going until the end of the season and hopefully we can get the reward for that.
“At this point we haven’t achieved anything but we are in a very good place and a place that other teams playing in both competitions wants to be in and is fighting for. But we have to stay calm and we will.”
When Klopp made his announcement the club was still in the hunt for four major trophies but within a couple of months their results crumbled and they finished the season only with the Carabao Cup.
“I think you have to learn from difficult moments and moments that don’t go your way,” said Van Dijk of what could be gained from last season’s capitulation.
“Most of the guys in the dressing room now have experienced last year and that should make you better, make you aware of how to deal with certain situations and circumstances, and you should be better equipped. Let’s see.”
