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Jurgen Klopp was nervous and frustrated and in one of those moods where it’s hard to get him to engage.
The turning point came when he was asked if Mohamed Salah had scored his 100th goal for Liverpool, with a rather beautiful ending. The inquisitor’s intention was to get some kind of positivity from Klopp, but this was not the time.
“The goal was sensational, great,” Klopp said, with an audible sigh and little conviction. But I’m not in the mood. The numbers are crazy, but even Mo doesn’t want to talk about it. ‘
You could say that Klopp’s ire was due to VAR denying Liverpool a last-gasp winner in the Merseyside derby, but the reality was far more serious.
As Klopp grappled with these inquisitions, the prospect of being without Virgil van Dijk for the rest of the season crossed his mind.
No man is bigger than the team and it would be ridiculous to say that Liverpool’s chances of retaining the Premier League this season disappeared when Jordan Pickford pounced on Van Dijk the way one would expect a security guard to take down a thief.
But sometimes there is an injury to a key player that can throw a team off balance and no one should have any doubts about what Van Dijk brings to Liverpool. Fans sing a song about him “quiet as you like” and he has been their security blanket for almost three years.
Van Dijk has made football seem effortless in that period and having him on the lookout, upright and steady and repelling problems, has allowed the rest of the team to progress. There is no other defense in Europe that has had such a transformative effect.
Consider these numbers: Van Dijk has started 95 Premier League games for Liverpool since signing him from Southampton in January 2018. They have conceded just 76 goals and kept 44 clean sheets in that span.
There is more. He has participated in 812 duels in that period and won 604 of them; Van Dijk has won 464 of his 622 headers and is second only to Patrick van Aanholt in terms of more goals from a defender. Yes, Liverpool broke the bank for him, but he has repaid the investment.
You knew immediately, as he cautiously left the field, that something was seriously wrong. The only time he had to be substituted before was against Southampton in September 2018, when he broke a rib, but he returned to play a week later.
“I don’t know how many games in a row Virgil played for us,” Klopp said. ‘Play with pain, play with everything. But he couldn’t continue playing. That’s not cool.’
The only match that Van Dijk has missed for Liverpool in the Premier League was a shootout with Manchester City, in January 2018, with a tight hamstring. However, the dark reality is that he is now primed for a prolonged absence that will likely span the rest of the season.
Klopp stressed that Joe Gomez, who replaced Van Dijk on Saturday, had an “exceptional” game when he entered and his ability cannot be denied. Joel Matip has also been trustworthy whenever asked and now they must form a united front.
Both, however, would recognize how Van Dijk has helped them. When you also take into account that Alisson, Liverpool’s prominent goalkeeper, is out until next month, there is a feeling that the champions may now be vulnerable.
Points are lost, refereeing decisions infuriating, but injuries trigger a different set of emotions in a coach. When they are as serious as the one Van Dijk has argued, they can alter the shape of a season. No wonder Klopp was so distracted.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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