If Virgil van Dijk's latest post-match reaction wasn't the first time he had fronted up in the 2022/23 campaign, it was at least the Liverpool defender's last.
The Netherlands captain put on a brave face for the media for one final time after captaining his national side to a 3-2 defeat to Italy in the UEFA Nations League on Sunday.
As ever, it was a searing and unflinching appraisal from a player who sees it as his responsibility to give his verdicts in the immediate aftermath of unfavourable results.
“We are building something, but how we allow ourselves to be trumped, that should not happen to us and is very disappointing," he told NOS. “In the second half we took risks and things went better at times, but the first half is of course never allowed. It just wasn’t good enough. We should definitely look at this, especially in view of the important matches that are coming up.
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“You also play for the honour and we are ashamed of how we played in the first half. We all need to take a very good look in the mirror. Things have to be very different in the next period, let’s focus on that.
“It took us two years to fine-tune a system, just like we have to do now. These matches should also be seen as a learning opportunity, but we must take big steps and take our responsibility”.
If Van Dijk's admission of a 'shameful' performance is perhaps a harsh assessment on both himself and his colleagues after a close-run defeat to the current European champions, it was typical of the forthright and honest approach of the Liverpool No.4. The former Celtic and Southampton star had little issue with dishing out some uncomfortable truths whenever he and his colleagues stumbled.
Barely a game went by for the Reds last term when Van Dijk did not speak out on the things he felt needed to be communicated. Privately he conceded he felt it was his duty to act as the unofficial spokesman of the Liverpool team, particularly if it was a bad day at the office for Jurgen Klopp's players. and it is one of the reasons why the Oranje captain is also viewed as a key leader of his club squad too.
With James Milner having departed the club for Brighton & Hove Albion this summer, Van Dijk is almost certain to see his standing officially recognised with the vice-captaincy for next season.
And with club skipper Jordan Henderson facing more competition from the expected arrival of more midfielders for next season, Van Dijk may find himself in possession of the armband more than ever at Anfield going forward. It will be an opportunity he will no doubt relish.
Before that, though, the Reds defender can enjoy some much-needed rest following a campaign that saw him play 41 times for the Reds and a further 12 for Holland in friendlies, UEFA Nations League and World Cup fixtures.
Since July 2021, when he returned from a career-threatening knee injury suffered against Everton in a 2-2 draw back in October 2020, Van Dijk has in fact turned out over 100 times for club and country, with 92 of them coming for Jurgen Klopp's Reds.
The 31-year-old has racked up a total of 5,895 minutes of club football since returning to competitive action nearly two years ago and in another honest post-match admission, Van Dijk revealed it has, at times, been too much stress and strain on him given the near perfect standards that are demanded from the centre-back.
“We play every three to four days so what you have to do is sacrifice quite a bit. I would love to spend time with my family and my kids,” Van Dijk revealed in March. “But obviously I need to get treatment every day, make sure I’m eating the right stuff and doing the right things in order to be ready for the next game.
“That’s the life we live and we are very privileged and I really acknowledge that but you still have to make these sacrifices. That’s what’s going on behind the scenes.
“Obviously I came back from quite a complex injury that I had two years ago now. That takes treatment, that takes time, it takes adaptation. That’s the way I have to handle myself and I won’t say it’s always easy but it happens.
“Coming back from the knee injury, I played all the Premier League games because I want to be out there. That’s what I’m working hard for. What caught up is that I played too many games at a time. I’ll do everything possible to play but I could have also thought before the World Cup, ‘let’s rest a little bit in order to be ready’.
“But I didn’t because I want to be influential for this football club but it caught up with me unfortunately. I’m not a robot and I think having the World Cup and then doing nothing for a week and coming back, it was maybe not the right decision.”
While the dip of the impossibly-high standards previously displayed by Van Dijk were often exaggerated by his detractors, last term was certainly a departure, at times, from the sort of form that helped propel Liverpool to every major trophy since 2019.
No player was more transformational in turning Klopp's side from pretenders and contenders to a team that was able to boast being champions of England, Europe and the world in 2020, but the £75m man found himself the subject of more critiques than ever before last time out during his now near six years on Merseyside.
Much of that stems from the general underperformance of the team as a whole, of course, and there is little debate that the drop-off from the squad was alarming last term as the Reds slipped to their lowest finish since 2016.
Having faced up the difficult questions all season long, however, all Van Dijk needs to do now is shun the spotlight for the next few weeks as he prepares for a vital rest period ahead of a return to pre-season training next month.
Pre-season at the AXA Centre starts on July 8 but Van Dijk is expected to be celebrating his 32nd birthday with his family that day as Klopp looks certain to grant him an extra few days off due to his international commitments.
It could be a quietly crucial period to help the centre-half refresh and recharge after another taxing year at the back for Liverpool and Holland.
