Interview with Jonathan Northcroft
Northcroft: He talks about his journey from there, the frustrating youth career at Willem II who, after he had spent ten years in their system, declined to offer a contract, and about the drastic move from southern Holland to the country’s northern tip, where he would try his luck at FC Groningen.
Van Dijk
“It was the equivalent of living all your life in Bournemouth then moving to Newcastle on your own,” he says. “I was 18, and I didn’t even start in the first team where all my mates — I lived together with a couple of other players — were playing. I was the only one who started in the under-23s. I didn’t have my driving licence, so had to go on a bicycle to training. It was all fine. It all made me who I am. But it was not easy.”
But sometimes you remind yourself that it definitely wasn’t easy and [football] is never anything you should take for granted.”
"No one is immune to criticism,” he says. “If someone said that, they are lying. But when the criticism is there and you know it is right, the only thing you can do is keep your head down and focus on improving"
Van Dijk continued:
“I know my performance has been going like the team has been going — up and down. I know I’m one of the players who is looked at, that I set a high standard over the last five years that it’s normal to be criticised. The only thing I can do is block the noise out and focus on how I deal with certain situations to be better.
“Over the past five years, excluding the year of my injury [the 2020-21 season, when he played only seven games before being ruled out for the remainder with cruciate damage], I’ve been playing every three or four days to such a consistent level. I’m trying to get back to that — and I will get back it. I’m not worried about that.”
“As a defender, it’s all about the small details,” he says. “We had a counterattack against us and I see Benrahma dribbling inside and know if he mis-hits it, it can go across. Those are normally the ones where strikers run in for the second ball and I’m thinking about that. I thought I have to follow [the break] and track, at least, to the back post because there might be a dangerous situation. When the ball arrived it was a bit of quick decision-making: should I clear it to the left — but I wasn’t able to — should I try to hit it against Antonio, or should I try to give it just a little touch, to put it out of play. Which is what I did.
“In the end it paid off and it’s what I said: all about the small margins. The risk factor is obviously the highest as a goalkeeper, but as centre halves it’s the second highest in the team.”
“Yes,” he says. “I think you always try to read the game, and that is my strength in some ways. You always try to see what happens next.
“When the opponent has the ball and the striker is making runs in behind, are you going to track them immediately or take into account whether [the opposition] is able to play that pass? Things like that. It’s trying to always be ahead of the game. Sometimes you have to win a challenge but avoiding [having to be in a challenge] is also a nice thing to do.”
Van Dijk adds: “I still think I can learn and improve.”
Van Dijk smiles. “I appreciate any footballer who played at the highest level, and from every defender who has done so there is so much to learn from and take,” he says. “At the end of the day you are unique.
“Chiellini, for example, I have played against many times and he has always been that physical guy and played at such a high level, that that’s his way of being who he is.
“I think, in my way, I have been who I am. Successful as well. Because of the way I play. In many moments you don’t see me a lot in what Chiellini describes, these physical challenges, because I try to read and be a step ahead of others.
“I think that’s also a quality. You try not to be in situations that could make you vulnerable. To do that, it’s how you deal with certain situations beforehand. I can still solve situations with my speed, my physicality, aerial presence. But the best way to deal with things is not be in any problems.”
Thinking back to his grassroots beginning he says: “It’s a great initiative, about kids having fun. [On Cruyff court in Kesteren] you played against teams who, you know, drive you mad — against players who are milking things and stuff. That’s part of learning how to deal with that stuff. And ‘winner stays on’. It makes you competitive.
“All that made me who I am today, and also technical-wise — passes, touches, these type of things. We should try to get a bit more of [those games] back into kids’ lives.”
That’s what matters to me, and bringing up my kids [he has four children] as well, because it’s really important, upbringing.”
“It’s going to be tough, especially with how we’ve been consistency-wise this season, but why not go for it, try to enjoy it, and then we will have a very tough, I’m sure, pre-season. Where we have a lot of sessions to be ready for next season — where we want to improve and know teams around us will improve as well. We have to be ready for a very big fight.”
"It’s definitely not easy but you want these challenges and to play against the best. The Premier League is the most competitive in the world. It’s a joy.”
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