A big win sandwiched between contract extensions for Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk. Boss.
It’s been a big week for Liverpool Football Club. Between the contract extensions for Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, the Reds managed to cobble together a resilient win against West Ham. With only 6 points left to claim the Premier League title, Kopites across the world must be feeling quite satisfied.
And that’s how I’m feeling at present, with almost all of that down to the emotional lift of knowing we’ll be getting 2 more years of both Mo and Virg. It’s hard to describe but given that they’ve been part of the club for approximately half of my time as a fan, it really is difficult to conceive of a version of Liverpool without them. When you include the fact that they are part of such a successful period in the club’s history, that aura of legend that envelopes their personas makes them almost mythic; Salah a modern Mercury and van Dijk cast as a Titan.
Perhaps most meaningful amongst the various statements between both superstars’ extensions was van Dijk’s note that “it was always Liverpool.” Not just for the sentimental aspect of it – though, that’s not something to scoff at – but because it represents a commitment to the project that was begun here in earnest under Jurgen Klopp. While Mo’s statement did not offer such a blunt phrasing, the language about how deep his family is rooted in Liverpool essentially spoke to a similar sense of being invested in the culture and success at Anfield.
I’ve just come off a rather intense period at work, completing a project where I felt at times like the only one who believed that we might hit our goals and objectives. In the end, we cleared the standards we set for ourselves and reached levels we wouldn’t expect. While I know the team I work with is supremely talented, I can’t help but feel that it was actually a shared commitment to each other and our shared vision that helped us get over the line.
Liverpool are so close to closing out their first post-Klopp season as an unqualified success. And so much of that is down to the players – especially leaders and world-class talents like Mo and Virg – committing to what could be possible by trusting each other and the system in place to guide them towards special honors.
Because when the work turns into a grind and it gets a bit hard to see the end goal when the immediate pressures are blocking your eye-line, sometimes all you have is the commitment to each other as a unit. So, it’s incredibly meaningful to know that the Egyptian King and Liverpool’s Captain both want to run it back. It’s on the rest of the set-up, from management to their own teammates, to ensure that commitment doesn’t go to waste.