Topic: Virgil Van Dijk (Cpt)

[Samie]

Play Virg against Leeds on Sunday and rest him for the AC Milan game.  Time to start using Joe and Ibou.

[Eeyore]

Play Virg against Leeds on Sunday and rest him for the AC Milan game.  Time to start using Joe and Ibou.

Normally I would agree but Leeds are a team that you need to get your defensive line right against.

[Samie]

It's a good thing you agree Al because that's what I said. 

[Eeyore]

It's a good thing you agree Al because that's what I said. 

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[67CherryRed]

He needs minutes in his legs, the more he plays the better he'll be. As long as he's come away unscathed I don't see any issues.

[killer-heels]

Wouldnt it be best to not play him against Leeds, considering he played today? The game being on Sunday helps but Klopp did raise some minor concerns even in a weeks worth of gap.

[MBL?]

Wouldnt it be best to not play him against Leeds, considering he played today? The game being on Sunday helps but Klopp did raise some minor concerns even in a weeks worth of gap.

I reckon Tuesday to Sunday should be okay. Rest him against Milan..

[Fitzy.]

I had an anxiety dream last night that he was crocked.

[meady1981]

I Konate believe it.

[paulrazor]

Exactly they had 3 matches and Van Dijk was rested for the middle one.

He is their best player by a country mile, a lot of coaches would have played him in all three.

yep

[MD1990]

Wouldnt it be best to not play him against Leeds, considering he played today? The game being on Sunday helps but Klopp did raise some minor concerns even in a weeks worth of gap.

Id play him against Leeds.
Palace is only 3 days after Milan. So rest him for the game.

No Alisson at the weekend now as well

[Dim Glas]

Kloppo being a bit frantic like the rest of us (apart from he can text Virgil) 

“With Virgil, that was obviously a scary moment, you can imagine. I sent him a message after the game, ‘Are you alright?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘100 per cent?’ ‘200 per cent.’ ‘Come on, send me a video of you without limping...’ ‘I’m only limping off.’

“So he called me from the bus and said, ‘Boss, I’m fine!’ I said, ‘Why are you limping then?’ He said, ‘My wife asked the same!’ So, yeah, that was a bit of a tricky moment but apart from that, no, all fine [for the other international players].

from here

[PaulF]

Do we have to manage him differently now post injury to maybe rest him more than we would before.
 Or is it something we are only doing temporarily as we nurse him to match fitness?

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Do we have to manage him differently now post injury to maybe rest him more than we would before.
 Or is it something we are only doing temporarily as we nurse him to match fitness?

I imagine he wont play 3 games a week, so potentially resting him against Milan in midweek.

[PaulF]

I imagine he wont play 3 games a week, so potentially resting him against Milan in midweek.

But do you think we will still wrap him up in say January? I guess we monitor the site of his injury super carefully and plan accordingly.

[Welshred]

It won't be an ongoing thing, he'll start playing 3 matches a week in the second half of the season.

[afc tukrish]

It won't be an ongoing thing, he'll start playing 3 matches a week in the second half of the season.

That's an expected, reasonable time frame after his type of injury to return to "normal" match load?

[Welshred]

That's an expected, reasonable time frame after his type of injury to return to "normal" match load?

Completely depends. If we only had Virgil plus one other then we'd probably see it early but we've got 4 top quality centre backs so there's no real need to do it right now. Of course that changes with injuries but there's so much more information and data other than time that goes into it.

[slaphead]

I imagine he wont play 3 games a week, so potentially resting him against Milan in midweek.

If he did play that wouldn't be 3 games in a week........ technically be 3 games in 8 days 
Seriously, it will probably be the hardest thing in the world for Klopp to do to rest him from time to time but he will always always put the players health first.

[RedG13]

If he did play that wouldn't be 3 games in a week........ technically be 3 games in 8 days 
Seriously, it will probably be the hardest thing in the world for Klopp to do to rest him from time to time but he will always always put the players health first.

They want to avoid the 3 games in 6 days right now and have the depth to do it

[RedG13]

It won't be an ongoing thing, he'll start playing 3 matches a week in the second half of the season.

I expect the second half at the latest for it. What the earliest it could be? I would think a year after injury would be easliest.

[Welshred]

I expect the second half at the latest for it. What the earliest it could be? I would think a year after injury would be easliest.

The earliest it could be is this week

[afc tukrish]

The earliest it could be is this week

 

[Flaccid Bobby Fowler]

Theres no point spending 35 mil on a rising star CB if we cant rest one of our starters. 3 games in 8 days with travel would be asking a lot of someone out for near a whole season. I think we showed we can get results without Virg last season - we drew with them away last season with Fab and Ozak at the back. Alright Virg is the best there is but now is the perfect time to rest him - it's a long season. I'd happily rest him against Leeds and play Konate or Gomez and bring him back for 1st CL game. Cant be understated how important 3 points are in your first CL game.

[RedG13]

The earliest it could be is this week

 

[PaulF]

Defensively we will be fine with whatever pairing we have. I think it's his attacking input that will dictate which games he's involved in.

[MonsLibpool]

It's unfair to have him and Alisson. Could have even gone to bed with the confidence that we wouldn't concede.

[SerbianScouser]

His influence on the team is astronomical.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

His influence on the team is astronomical.

It is, but it's not just having him back. Matip as well.

[tornado]

Klopp is always extra careful with players returning from injury, some other managers would have brought him back in May given CL situation. But he didn't and Virgil got an extra 3 months for rehab, so he is closer to full fitness and his body is in a better position to cope.

Btw, Klopp will do the same with Harvey, so whatever time window is for return for normal managers, add a month atleast

[bornandbRED]

Him and Matip could play in flip flops. Barely broke a sweat all game

[naYoRHa2b]

Cruised through the game.

[disgraced cake]

Him and Matip could play in flip flops. Barely broke a sweat all game

Hopefully that's how they get maximum game time this season, by just cruising through games. The likes of Fabinho/Henderson/Thiago certainly help.

[jacobs chains]

He ran the game. Always where he should be, directing the rest of the back line. He adds so much more to the team than just his own talent. I think he might be the best I've seen play for us.

[MonsLibpool]

His influence on the team is astronomical.

It's like playing with 12 men because of how good he is, his influence and his aura too.

[Beninger]

Him and Matip could play in flip flops. Barely broke a sweat all game

Credit to the whole team. Matip and Virg can just cruise the whole game and just when you think you have an opening as an attacker, you have to run against their fresh legs. They’ll pick you off all day.

[TepidT2O]

Doing well… but nowhere near his best yet…

That he doesn’t need to be is telling of his influence

[palimpsest]

I'm just waiting for him to score from a corner and the world to finally snap back into place.

[Bobinhood]

Hes really coming around though. These games with the dutch where he got a dislocated finger and a brutal smash to the ankle (that we know about) actually helped him find the next 5% his running looks totally fear free now, at least he can open it up to 90% or better and back down again effortlessly and hes starting the ball to carry a little more, and all the things hes been working on are getting sharper and sharper (bar offensive headers so far but you always need a project, right) and anyway...

Hes starting to get back into cheat code territory, Just in time for the CL.

[slaphead]

The way we can control games when he plays is just incredible. I have never in my lifetime seen a player who has such a huge impact on his teammates. How they play, manage a game, confidence. It's exceptional. His organisational skills are the best on the planet.