As the match clock reached the 97th minute, deep in that dark realm where so many goals seem to be scored in the Premier League these days, Arsenal advanced for the last time.
The home team had threatened from wide positions all afternoon and here they were again, questioning Liverpool’s defensive credibility. The cross was decent but the header that propelled the ball away from danger was even better and once again came from Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk.
At the beginning of this frenetic and absorbing match, Van Dijk had appeared in practically the same place to equalize with a header from a corner. But this, the ugly, is what he does so well so often. Feel the danger, face the danger, face the danger.
Now 33 years old, Van Dijk. It has been almost seven years since he joined Liverpool from Southampton and this could well be his last season at Anfield.
For all the promising signs of early life under new coach Arne Slot, the thought of Van Dijk leaving is sobering. This developing and slowly evolving Liverpool team is not ready for that, not yet.
Virgil van Dijk was impressive for Liverpool in their 2-2 draw with Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.
Van Dijk led from the front and equalized for the Reds with a header when they were 1-0 down.
It is almost seven years since van Dijk, 33, joined Liverpool from Southampton for £75m.
Here in north London, Van Dijk was everything he had always been. A defender who reads the game naturally and seemingly effortlessly, Van Dijk remains athletic and mobile.
Not as fast as before, why should it be? – but still agile enough and certainly more fleet-footed than most of those around him at an increasingly feverish Emirates Stadium.
In the end, with a valuable point had been secured and Liverpool’s momentum maintained, Van Dijk walked up to greet his team’s traveling supporters and then turned to be met by two men who know exactly what it is and what it is. what are you doing.
Joe Gómez was the first to hug him. The former England defender was Van Dijk’s teammate, until injuries caused him to lose his rhythm.
Then along came young Jarell Quansah, good enough to make England’s squad ahead of Euro 2024 and indeed to start the opening match of this league season at Ipswich. However, it’s currently not good enough to get a game. On Quansah’s part, it was a handshake and an arm around the shoulder.
Respect among colleagues, respect from those who, frankly, would like to be a little of what Van Dijk continues to be. A leader, someone to look up to, and on occasions like this, someone to just stand back and admire.
Van Dijk is back to where he was before injury wiped out him in a Merseyside derby a few years ago. He’s back to that imperious level where opponents never truly believe they’ll best him and where his teammates will be dragged forward under his thrall.
Ibrahima Konate, his current partner at Liverpool, now looks twice the player he has ever had at the club. No doubt part of that is due to Van Dijk’s influence.
For all the promising signs under Arne Slot, the thought of Van Dijk leaving is sobering.
Joe Gómez was the first to hug him. He was once a teammate of Van Dijk, until injuries took him down.
Then it was young Jarell Quansah, who will have learned a lot playing alongside van Dijk.
This season there has been a lot of talk about Van Dijk’s contractual situation. Like Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, their current contract expires at the end of this season and the prospect of all three leaving next June hangs over Anfield.
Slot seems to have the measure of life as Jurgen Klopp’s successor. We are a quarter of the way through the league season and Slot has Liverpool ahead of Arsenal and on the shoulder of Manchester City. Actually, no one expected that.
However, if we take away Van Dijk, Salah and Alexander-Arnold, we will have a very different team, a very different season. The fact that Van Dijk has broken ranks to say he is in talks with the club about an extended stay is a small consolation, but some kind of consolation nonetheless.
And if Van Dijk is waiting and watching, who can blame him? He has won everything there is to win at Liverpool and he has been an integral part of it all. At the moment it would seem he is waiting to see which direction Liverpool travel with Slot before committing one way or another.
He looks like he has at least three years left at this level and will have no shortage of offers for a free transfer. As such, the direction Liverpool take in the coming weeks remains pivotal not only to what happens this season but also what the club’s short and medium-term future looks like.
The Slot team was tough enough here. They didn’t play well consistently, but they came back twice and that says it all. They continue without control against the best teams. That was evident at home to Chelsea eight days ago (although they won) and, indeed, here.
It’s a missing piece to Slot’s puzzle, something that’s causing them to score too often on the counterattack rather than through sustained pressure. Liverpool is, in truth, an elite midfielder who is not quite where he perhaps should be.
Arsenal scared them here, especially in the first half. Liverpool full-backs Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson did not cope well against Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka and that left the away team looking vulnerable at times.
Although they were better in the second half. They moved the ball better and felt a loss of confidence in their opponents. When Salah scored with a play started by Alexander-Arnold, it was already coming.
Ibrahima Konate, van Dijk’s partner, seems twice the player he has ever had at the club
Along with Mohamed Salah and Alexander-Arnold, van Dijk’s contractual situation needs urgency
Salah and Alexander-Arnold had been fleetingly impressive up to that point, while Van Dijk was consistently impressive. He later said in a television interview that he was enjoying football and there is plenty of evidence of this on the pitch.
As for his future, he has his foot on the proverbial ball. It’s hard to imagine your agent’s phone on silent. As long as he plays like him, Van Dijk has the whip hand. It is a deeply uncomfortable situation for Slot and his club.
As they strive to shape and mold a post-Klopp version of Liverpool, they need Van Dijk in the center for a while longer.
