- Published11 minutes ago
Liverpool are bringing "intensity" and "a bit of chaos" to their football under new manager Andoni Iraola, says Reds captain Virgil van Dijk.
Liverpool reached the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday when theydefeated Chelsea in a tense penalty shootout,but Van Dijk said his side are still a "work in progress" as they learn to balance Iraola's risk and reward system.
"The word has been said so many times 'intensity', sometimes a bit of chaos, "Van Dijk said.
"There is this risk-reward that's going on now that if we press high... well, I ended up high [on the pitch] at one point almost putting Cody [Gakpo] in for one-v-one on goal when I intercepted the ball on the right-hand side, when I'm a left centre-back. It's this sort of intensity that we try to get into our press.
"But I think he [Iraola] mentioned in his press conference before that he wants us to control the game by having the ball and finding the right spaces at times.
"So it's still a work in progress but if you defend with a lot of intensity you have a big chance to win the ball up high. Obviously that sometimes creates some risk and you could be vulnerable but we're working on it a lot in order to be able to take that risk, but still not be as vulnerable as we have been at some times."
Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was revered for the intense "heavy metal" football he brought to Anfield - a name he coined while managing Borussia Dortmund in 2014 - but Van Dijk believes it is difficult to compare the two head coaches' styles.
He said: "It's a different era, a different time, I think it's difficult to say that. Obviously under Jurgen, we pressed a lot by shuffling across, so whether it was our full-backs that pressed their full-back, then obviously our centre-backs have to come across, the midfield was all the way on one side, the winger was all the way on one side.
"So we tried to box them in on one side but football has changed so it's different. But what isn't different is the amount of sprints and running and trying to get the ball back as soon as possible.
"We also have to be a little bit more direct and that helps [with] winning the ball up high and we have the players in order to do so."
