Just days away from his return to the pitch, Virgil van Dijk offered an encouraging update on his recovery and he shared his struggles.
Virgil van Dijk is about to make his comeback to the pitch after nearly a year out of the game due to a knee injury. Liverpool thought it best to offer the fans a glimpse into what he went through during this time. On the club’s website, they posted the following video and quotes: “I’m doing well. It’s obviously been a tough pre-season, coming back from such a long time (out) to be playing and training with the boys again is a big thing. After the (Hertha) game, I was empty, drained. I’d played 20 minutes but it wasn’t because of the game, it was because of everything that had happened the whole week and the whole day.
“We are in close contact with Andreas (Kornmayer, head of fitness and conditioning) making sure we are giving the right feedback: we have to be honest with ourselves, and that’s how we are where we are at the moment. The same goes now for Thursday; I’ve heard we’ll play at least 30 minutes, but it could be maybe longer, and then we just build it up. We have another friendly which I am looking forward to at Anfield, of course, at the weekend or on Monday, one of the two, so I will get more minutes then if things go well. Then the league will start. At the end of the day, it’s all about what the manager wants and we will see how it progresses.”
Van Dijk opens up about his struggles and next season.
About the tough times, Van Dijk added: “It’s been tough at times. The start of team training was such a big day for me; normally I don’t really get nervous but those kind of small things make me, not nervous, but a bit excited and stuff. The same goes for the game – you’ve been visualizing so many times yourself playing a game again and just to be out there again. There are obviously plenty of things to improve still and to get back to full fitness, but to get out there again gave me so much confidence. I am just ready to crack on, to push on again. That’s what I want to do, so I just keep going and the next one is on Thursday.
“It is going to be a tough one with teams that are improving all around us, trying to compete to become champions of the Premier League. So are we – we want to be up there again. We have the quality – that is obvious – we were just very unlucky with injuries last year. The base layer of success (is) to have that right team spirit. Then it’s all about what happens on the pitch in that 95 minutes. If we are doing it all together, pressing together, defending together, as we always want to do it, we always have a good chance to get a good result. That’s the focus we should have and I am confident that will happen.”
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