Virgil van Dijk has been criticised plenty of times for his performances last season. Earlier this week, he came under scrutiny after the Netherlands' defeat to Croatia in the Nations League semi-final.
However, Virgil is optimistic looking into the next campaign, with the end of the last campaign motivating him to go on.
"I still have two years left on my contract and I assume that they (Liverpool) still consider me important for the team. If not, I am sure I would have heard about it," he said.
"My contact with the manager is good and I feel very positive about things again. The way we finished the season motivates me to go into pre-season with the new players who are coming in.
"I don't feel too big to be vulnerable," Virgil added. "It has been quite an intense season, with many ups and downs and people must understand that we aren’t robots. It has been a year in which I learned a lot - especially off the pitch, and certainly mentally.
"In football, it's never plain sailing - but this season was still quite a shock. Sometimes the criticism was just right, both on the team and on me individually. But quite often it was not quite right. Either way, you have to be able to deal with it - and I'm glad I came out of it well. Mentally, that’s not always easy."
