Van Dijk, Dalglish and the art of leadership
Why Haaland's cooking masterclass should be shown in schools
It was after the fire alarm finally stopped that we were allowed back to our hastily-abandoned seats in the Globe Theatre in London yesterday afternoon. I was in town for the evening screening of Asif Kapadia’s new film about Kenny Dalglish just off Piccadilly Circus, and went to the Globe to catch the matinee showing of Twelfth Night. We were evacuated following an incident with contractors’ equipment below stairs. Two very young stewards, now called “access ambassadors” in theatre-land, provided leadership, explaining and organising, before ushering us back in. It turned out to be much ado about nothing anyway.
One of the most famous lines in Twelfth Night always resonates: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” It particularly resonated this week in football when applied to the debate about leadership on the field, in the dug-out and off the field. Some people are born leaders like Virgil van Dijk, a natural captain. Dalglish, a far shier character, became a leader when events demanded.
Leadership comes in many forms. It can be leadership through words as Van Dijk showed in Monday’s meeting with team-mates to revive Liverpool’s season and leadership through deed as the Dutchman displayed against Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday.