Liverpool showing greater resilience under Iraola, insists Van Dijk

The latest came on Tuesday, when the Reds recovered from two goals down to beat Villarreal 4-3 at Anfield in the Champions League. It followed a 2-1 Premier League victory at Brentford, while Liverpool had also fought back to beat Atlético Madrid last month.

The three victories have already matched the number of times Liverpool won after falling behind throughout the whole of Arne Slot’s final season. Draws against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest earlier this campaign have also added to the pattern of recovering from difficult starts.

Captain Virgil van Dijk acknowledged that Liverpool had made life unnecessarily hard for themselves against Villarreal, but was encouraged by the response after a poor opening half-hour.

“We don’t want to put ourselves in a position where you have to come back from anything,” he said. “But then there was the fightback and the moments we created because we have to remember Villarreal are a very good team on the ball and they showed that with a lot of movements and rotations on the ball. It wasn’t a great first half but we got it turned around.”

Van Dijk was particularly critical of his own role in Villarreal’s opener, when a misplaced header allowed Georges Mikautadze to score. Sergi Cardona doubled the visitors’ advantage before Liverpool began their recovery.

“It was a terrible start. I think the saying is you fight an uphill battle and as a defender it is pretty difficult to come back from it. I tried but it was a bad day at the office personally but we do it together with 11 players,” the Dutchman said.

“Fortunately it didn’t happen too many times in my Liverpool career but I was not the best. But we won and it’s not about me, it’s all about us.”

The captain also believes Iraola’s more aggressive approach is aligned with the club’s identity, although it demands sustained effort from the players.

“What the manager wants us to do is something which resonates with Liverpool and it is down to us to show us each and every game,” Van Dijk said. “It’s not easy, it’s demanding but if you want to win games and win games in the Liverpool way then we have to do it.”

Liverpool’s comeback was helped by teenage winger Rio Ngumoha, who assisted Ronald Araújo’s equaliser and Alexis Mac Allister’s goal to put the hosts ahead. With Mohamed Salah having left during the summer, Van Dijk said senior players have a responsibility to help the youngster develop.

“Everyone has that role in order to help the youngsters in the group, the players who have not had so much experience,” he said, adding that Ngumoha was “pretty electric at times” and had given Villarreal’s defence a difficult evening.

Liverpool’s schedule remains demanding, with Brighton due at Anfield on Sunday as the club continues a busy run of fixtures. Van Dijk insisted the team must concentrate on the next challenge rather than look too far ahead.