Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has revealed that he regrets what he said after his side beat Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley last month.
The Dutchman scored a dramatic 118th-minute winner in extra-time as the Reds landed more silverware under Jurgen Klopp, who will leave the club this summer.
After the match, Van Dijk stared down a camera in the changing room and said: ‘They thought I was finished.’
Van Dijk was reportedly hurt by comments last season about his performances – as well as the team’s performances – as media praise transformed into criticism.
But the 32-year-old centre-back has now expressed regret over his post-final remarks.
‘I shouldn’t have said that,’ Van Dijk said. ‘Because I don’t want to have the wrong intentions. That was part of the emotion coming out of me because there were so many emotions going through my whole body that day.
‘Last season was disappointing. Not disappointing in a way that I was bad. I didn’t feel like that at all; I was just below my standards and the consistency wasn’t there that I have had and set for myself in every game.
‘I fully understand the noise that came with it but I am a human being and not immune to any of that.
‘There was a bit of emotion that day but I shouldn’t have said that.
‘Maybe in one way it was good to say because it gets it out of me, but I don’t like noise around me. I like to play the game.
‘I just want to be the best I can because things have been going very well this season personally and big credit to all the team given the obstacles we had overcome.
‘I know I play a big part in that, I know I had to step up and I did, and I think after the little change we did last March [when Trent Alexander-Arnold adopted a hybrid midfield role] I am feeling a lot better.
‘The break helped massively in the summer and that brought me into good shape.’
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