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Klopp sends Van Dijk a message ahead of his recovery process

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After the extent of his injury was announced, Virgil van Dijk received a message of support from Jürgen Klopp during today’s press conference. 

Liverpool just lost Virgil van Dijk for the better part of the whole season to an ACL injury, Jürgen Klopp completely understands the situation. The German manager was also a football player who performed for Mainz in the Bundesliga for many years. He’s been injured and sidelined for a long time as well.

In fact, Klopp also had an ACL problem and he gets if Virgil is not in a friendly mood at the moment. During today’s press conference ahead of Liverpool’s trip to Amsterdam to face Ajax, Klopp used a few of his odd examples to send Virgil his support. But we all got the gist of what he meant.

“It’s always the same,” said Klopp via the club’s website. “Players love to be rather on their own in the moment and to deal in the first moment with it.

“I am long enough in the business to know that. I was injured myself, I had exactly the same injury if I’m right and it’s not then that you are then pretty chatty. It all will start but we are in contact, of course, we are in contact.

“We are there for him, he knows that and we will wait for him like a good wife is waiting when the husband is in jail and will do, meanwhile, all that we can do to make it as easy for him as possible.”

Klopp still doesn’t know Van Dijk’s possible return. 

“That’s all not sorted yet,” continued Jürgen about Van Dijk’s possible comeback. “A few things are clear, so he now will be out for a while, that’s clear.

“We don’t want to set any timeframe, to be honest, because each player is different and each individual is different and these possible timeframes are always for the x, y, z player [but] Virgil is Virgil and we don’t want to set any timeframe.

“But he will be out for a pretty long time and that’s what the situation is. That’s what we know since… I expected it pretty much on Saturday after the game immediately, especially when I saw the challenge back.

“I saw it the first time only from the bench, and when I saw it back I was pretty clear that he will be out for a long time.

“So we feel now in this moment extremely, extremely for him because most of us were in a similar situation and we know that these situations are absolutely rubbish.

“You don’t need it. You don’t need it but you have to get over it and Virgil will get over it, 100 percent, and today is already the first day, if you want, of the recovery.

“We go already in the right direction and so that’s OK and the rest is football and life, like always a challenge, so see what you get and then make the best of it and that’s what we do now.”

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