Question Time

Thanks for all your emails. Here are some answers to a few more of your questions. Please keep sending them via the ´contact me´ button on the left, and I´ll do my best to answer them.

Can you tell me what Rafa is like to play for? Good luck against Inter! Anna, Merseyside

Thanks Anna. Rafa is one of the best managers I’ve ever had. He’s tactically very strong. He lives football. I get the feeling he lives it 24 hours a day. He knows a lot of players. He knows if they’re left or right footed, their height, everything... He knows almost every player in Europe. He’s very interested in everything. He even knows heaps about the Dutch league, which shoes the depth of his knowledge. He’s really focused on the tactical side of things. That’s important because big games are decided by small details. He tries to be as well prepared for every game as possible.

Hi Dirk, I was wondering how you and the other Liverpool lads pass the time on away trips. Do you have card schools? Mark, Chesterfield

We play computer games on the coach on away trips. Everybody would like to say he’s the computer game king but at the moment we’re playing Mario Kart on Nintendo DS and no one’s come out on top yet. Everybody wants to win so it’s always really close.

What´s it like having such a cosmopolitan dressing room? Cheers, Alan, North Wales

There are a lot of different languages in the dressing room. I think that’s how it is these days in top sides. You’re playing with players from many different countries. That’s how it goes. It’s fun when you play against them with the national team.

Dirk, I´ve always been impressed that you take time to applaud the fans after every match. Is that something you´ve always done? Keep up the hard work! Lee, Bootle

I started doing it at Utrecht. It’s just a way of showing respect – fans pay so much money for their tickets. I just want to thank them for their support during the games. I carried on doing it at Feyenoord, with the Dutch team and now with Liverpool. I think people appreciate it.

Hi Dirk, How´s it going? I read an interview with Ruud van Nistelrooy the other week and he says he remembers every single goal he scores. Are you the same? Thanks for the Feyenoord years! Roy, Rotterdam

I normally remember all my goals. But I scored a lot in Holland so sometimes you forget them, but if I think hard, the memories come back. The funny thing is if I watch the footage of me celebrating a goal I only need to see it for one or two seconds and I remember which game it was and when it was.