VAN DIJK INJURY: THE BIG LOSS TO LIVERPOOL
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Coming from Southampton to the Liverpool rank in January 2018, with a hefty price to pay, the big Dutch centre half has already made life, even beyond name for himself at the Anfield stadium club.

Since his move to the Melwood Park in nearly three years ago, Virgil Van Dijk has been the colossus that made everything ticks for the Liverpool football club.

The ever presence Van-Dijk will now be facing some spell on the sideline after he was caught by a reckless challenge from Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford early on at Goodison Park in their last Merseyside derby on Saturday. Dutch centre-half Van Dijk damaged an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and Liverpool’s boss Jurgen Klopp said the initial prognosis of the injury was “not good”.

The reigning Premier League champions said: “Further assessment on the injury has revealed an operation will be needed. No specific timescale is being placed upon his return to action at this stage. Following surgery, Van Dijk will begin a rehabilitation program with the club’s medical team to enable him to reach full fitness as soon as possible.” But the time scale on the big Dutch international is speculated to be as long as eight month.

The former Celtic and Southampton player has been a key part of Liverpool’s success. He played a starring role in the Champions League triumph in 2019 and was ever present during Liverpool’s march to the Premier League title last season.

Joel Matip and Joe Gomez will deputise for Van Dijk, who played every minute of last season as Liverpool ended their 30-year wait to become English champions but a “lack of depth at centre-back will be a major concern for the Liverpool boss, Jurgen Klopp”, Sky Sports reports.

The question still remained to be answered by the Liverpool faithful as to what extent will the impact of Van Dijk loss will be for the Liverpool this season. This will be a real challenge to the mentality of Liverpool and perhaps even more so its supporters and the media who did not exactly allow excuses to Manchester City when they lost their two most important players, Kevin De Bruyne and Aymeric Laporte for long spells in each of past two seasons.

Virgil van Dijk is an absolute monster and has been at every stop from Celtic to Southampton to Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp took this already imposing and wonderful defender and turned him into a legitimate Ballon d’Or contender, coming behind the magnificent Lionel Messi, as he won the best player in the English Premier League in 2019, which is absolutely remarkable for a defender to win in an emphatic fashion despite losing the league to the worthy winner Manchester city in that year.

The Anfield Club will be heading deeper into the already tight packed season, with consecutive UEFA Champions League and the incoming FA Cup in January, without their center back talisman. This season will be so long for the Reds.

More also, the conceding rate of Liverpool is magnanimously increased from the past two seasons, even in the presence of the big Dutch international. However, the Liverpool’s woeful can be further justified as no one can defend in the Premier League anymore.

Five teams have allowed double-digit goals through the first 4-5 matches of their season. Everyone either wants to attack or cannot defend and has to attack. Liverpool can attack.

Moreover, the Liverpool will be hooking themselves as they failed to actually buy a backup for this type of loss, with which bookmakers predict Ousmane Dembele to cover the likes of Sadio Mane and Mohammed Salah, but would eventually settled for Diogo Jota. However, the German tactician will be counting on Fabinho to supplement the loss of Van Dijk with the like of Henderson, Thiago Alcantara and Wijnaldum covering up the Brazilian in the midfield.

Virgil Van Dijk

Jurgen Klopp has already shown a willingness to drop Fabinho into center back in what feels like Man City’s Fernandinho experiment, and perhaps that’s what’s coming from the German genius. Or maybe this is why Klopp invested in Thiago Alcantara, who instantly became the club’s best midfielder and gave him the ability to move Fabinho, Georginio Wijnaldum, or another midfield cog

Furthermore, Liverpool’s have been so incredible under Jurgen Klopp and their rebirth has earned the group an almost irreproachable belief and benefit of the doubt, even in the rare instances it’s needed.

More so, the Fortunate bounces, with like of Divock Origi’s winner against Everton, were often viewed as a byproduct of Liverpool’s relentless effort deserved bits of ‘luck’ from the soccer deities. And it’s easy to buy into that. But the winning comeback against Aston Villa despite trailing at 89 minutes is a whole testament to the fact of the team’s mentality.

Klopp has planted, fed and harvested this outlook from his club, players, supporters and even neutrals. That’s the best hope that Liverpool fans can cull from this long-term absence of the team’s best player.

The next few months, maybe many months of the Van Dijk absence is similar to City without De Bruyne, Bayern without Joshua Kimmich, and PSG without Kylian Mbappe. Perhaps Van Dijk’s value is more crucial to Liverpool than any player other than Lionel Messi is to any other big club.

Who can navigate the emotional toll this will take on an entire club? Well, you’d bet on Jurgen Klopp as much as any other manager in the world and it would be a decent bet. But perhaps the biggest challenge will come in Amsterdam against Ajax on Wednesday or home to Sheffield United on Saturday; That’s the first time Liverpool’s players will look to their left, right, or behind them and not see the man who’s played in nearly every important match in the club’s recent history.

Jamie Carragher, who is a former Liverpool defender, Champions League winner and pundit for Sky, said: “The big question you’re looking at now is, can Liverpool win the league without Van Dijk there? I think every team has three or four players in every title-winning team or a team who think they can win the title, and if one of those players is missing, no matter how good your manager is, no matter how big your squad is, you can’t cover for them because they’re outstanding. I think it blows the title race wide open, I really do.”

Fellow Sky pundit Graeme Souness who also captained Liverpool in their successful years of 1980 added: “If you were to ask me at the start of the season, who’s the one player you don’t want to miss a large chunk of the season… people might say Sadio Mane, people might say Mohamed Salah… for me it’s Van Dijk. It’s a major blow. It’s the last thing Liverpool needed.”

Losing Virgil Van Dijk is absolutely unfillable for the Liverpool, but could it be too early to caste the big player omission and impact in their game, however, the time will absolutely be the. But irrespective of how the season turn out, the influence of the Normal one at the Melwood Park since his arrival in 2015 and thus his ingenuity will further propel The Red to glory this campaign also.

See More: Best Liverpool defenders ever

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