Liverpool skipper van Dijk praises new centre-back partner Jacquet’s start – but insists his side have plenty to improve on | OneFootball

Virgil van Dijk praised young Liverpool defender Jeremy Jacquet after their 2-1 Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid but admitted Andoni Iraola’s side still have plenty of room for improvement.

Jacquet partnered the Liverpool captain in defence against Atletico and van Dijk believes the youngster has made an encouraging start, while stressing the importance of giving him time to develop.

“He’s a young guy but he’s doing very well,” Van Dijk said.

“It’s down to him but also all of us to make sure he reaches his full potential and keeps working, keeps learning.

“But so far, so good. I said it at the start of the season, a partnership takes time, takes games, but whether it’s Ronald [Araujo] who plays centre-back, or Jeremy starting, or Joe Gomez who is coming back, everyone has to chip in and be important for the team.”

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Liverpool secured three points in their opening Champions League game but Van Dijk believes the players are still adapting to Iraola’s style, particularly when deciding when to press aggressively.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done, we all feel that,” he admitted. “There’s a lot of good things that we have improved since the start of the season and it’s up to us to keep improving and let’s see where it brings us.

“If you look at the way we want to play, sometimes there’s a lot of risk with the way we press but you have to learn when to go and when not to take the risk.

“It’s getting better but, as you said, probably the first goal was not a good example for us.”

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