Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has said it took him six months to fully adapt to the high defensive line manager Jurgen Klopp wants to implement.
The centre-back has been a crucial cog in the Reds machine since joining in December 2017 and his range of qualities have allowed the team to defend in a much more aggressive way.
When opponents have the ball, Liverpool's forwards go hunting for it and in turn the entire side follows, squeezing up the pitch and restricting space to play out.
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That method leaves gaps in-behind that could be exploited by sharp forwards, although Van Dijk has been exceptional at dealing with these situations since he made his £75million switch from Southampton.
After another peerless performance from the defender in Liverpool's 2-0 win over Leicester City on Thursday night in the Premier League, Van Dijk was asked by former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand on Premier League Tonight how long it took him to get used to Klopp's aggressive defensive tactic:
"I think when I joined the club it took me definitely the first six months," the Netherlands star admitted. "It was a settling in period.
"The first games you get to know how we play. Then you know the responsibility you have, the role you have to play.
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"If we want to score goals and play good football and have the ball as much as we can, we must make sure we are high [up the pitch] and take that risk.
"When they play it long you have to be ready to run, to challenge and then there is plenty of time for our [number] six to run back or the full-back to tuck in."
Ferdinand then asked Van Dijk whether the setup is now something that comes natural to the Liverpool defender, or whether it still requires fine-tuning in training.
"No it's definitely not off the cuff!" said the centre-back.
"We want to keep a high line, because we know we can win the ball up high and it's the risk you have to take.
"The ball takes some time to get to the front so you have time to get back as midfielders or even as strikers.
"So you have to take a risk and luckily they trust us at the back to be able to deal with that. But it is sometimes not easy, you need to be brave."
