'Totally different!' - Virgil van Dijk reveals Liverpool defensive truth after Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo debuts

Van Dijk has praised summer signings Jacquet and Araujo following their impressive pre-season debuts against Como. The Reds secured a solid 2-0 victory. Both new arrivals played 45 minutes of the final pre-season clash. Jacquet particularly caught the eye by scoring Liverpool's second goal in his first appearance since suffering a dislocated shoulder in February. Araujo, who joined the Premier League side on a season-long loan from Barcelona, replaced the Frenchman for the second half. The performances have given manager Andoni Iraola a welcome defensive boost ahead of the new campaign.

While the initial signs were overwhelmingly positive, Van Dijk admitted that forging a reliable centre-back partnership will take time and patience. The Dutchman stressed the importance of gaining vital match experience together.

"I think [Jacquet] did well, same as Ronald," Van Dijk said, as quoted by ESPN. "It's a start, a good start so hopefully he can crack on. [You build relationships] by playing games. I won't say it's the only way, but games are totally different than training.

"Jeremy's English is, I would say, a bit better than Ronald's but at the end of the day we are all pretty good footballers. We can see and smell some moments on how to defend certain situations. But it's pretty clear that you need to form a connection together and that takes a bit of time. In my opinion that's absolutely normal but hopefully we can get that going as quickly as possible.

"Like I said, I think [Jacquet] did well. I think he came out of it a bit tired, but it's absolutely normal when you're playing your first 45 minutes after such a long time. Now it's down to him to recover. We'll be back on the pitch tomorrow morning and then we're working towards Newcastle. St James' Park will always be a tough one."

The victory over Como saw Liverpool return to winning ways after consecutive pre-season defeats against Leeds United and Monaco. Iraola had previously acknowledged his squad was struggling to sustain their required fitness levels for a full match.

Van Dijk believes the team's tactical compactness has significantly improved. He noted that intense pressing must be managed carefully as players naturally fatigue during the 90 minutes.

"What I see is that no team in world football can play full intensity for 90 minutes," Van Dijk explained. "Obviously at a certain point, you're gonna have some moments where players - or we all - get to a position where we're gonna be a bit tired. Then it's down to us to make sure that we are compact and find the right moment to press again. I think we did that much better than we did the last game.

"Obviously everyone's eager to go and to press and keep their intensity up but it's a team game and we need everyone together in order to be able to do that. That goes in phases through the game.

Following the successful run-out against Cesc Fabregas' Como, Liverpool will now turn their full attention to competitive action. The Reds open their 2026-27 Premier League campaign with a challenging trip to face Newcastle.

Jacquet will use the coming days to recover from his first 45 minutes of action in six months. Van Dijk and the rest of the squad will return to the training pitch to finalise their tactical preparations.