Quotes from Virgil van Dijk

Why be negative when you can enjoy life and be positive? That's something I learned over the years.

I've known my best friend since I was 12 or 13.

I have improved since I joined Liverpool.

I am very hard on myself. I know the slightest loss of concentration, the slightest mistake will be punished. I try to limit it as much as possible.

Scoring goals looks nicer and much more attractive than a last-ditch tackle for younger people.

All the players in the league, I think, want to play for trophies, want to get trophies.

You take every opportunity you have to win a trophy. That is always the goal, and winning makes it a little bit easier the next time.

Obviously, I'm honoured to be mentioned as a candidate to win the Ballon d'Or, but the only way I can influence it is to just focus on playing well.

I think the mindset is always to think that you are never going to play pain-free.

As a defender I try to keep clean sheets.

I'm a big TV show guy.

In my position when things are going well it's pretty easy to say that I'm sort of the guy that fixes everything. But if things are going bad then I'm the one that gets all the blame. In the end, we all do it together.

The influence of social media is unbelievable. It's sad to see - it's a fake life that some people live.

The Champions League is unbelievably big. The whole show before, the fans, the players you play against, the people who are going to watch the game, the pressure - it's very special.

The bigger you get as a player, the bigger the spotlight.

At Liverpool, we are all part of one unit, not just the 11 on the pitch.

It's the media who love statistics.

Everyone that plays for Liverpool always stays in the Liverpool family.

Every step of my career was hard work.

I was always playing on the streets with my friends until I was 15 or 16 and I wanted to do things with my skills that were exciting.

I need to be coming off the pitch every game with my voice gone, and that's something I can bring. I am just someone who likes to organise, make sure everything is well organised, because that makes it a lot easier for yourself too.

You need to have dreams, you need to go for it, otherwise why would you be a footballer?

Marco van Basten - I never saw him properly play but I know he was pretty good.

Anything is possible in football.