Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool rode their luck with Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez in December. It’s something they may need to face before the season ends.
We discussed last month how Klopp faced a tough decision with Van Dijk, in particular. How was he going to rest his most important player? He’d need that rest, of course, just like everybody else.
Klopp never really does rest him, though. Van Dijk played every Premier League game last season and every one this season, too. But December was an anomaly as the Reds played an incredible number of games, necessitating rest for players.
However, three days after we wrote that piece, Dejan Lovren went off injured and hasn’t played since. Joel Matip’s injury meant that Klopp now only had Van Dijk and Gomez as his centre-half options.
Van Dijk has gone on to play 90 minutes on 11 occasions since November 23rd. Only once in that span did he have a week’s rest. Gomez has played 90 minutes seven times in under a month, at no point having a week off.
The fact that neither picked up injuries and both played consistently well is quite remarkable. Liverpool could easily have found themselves with only one fit centre-half – a worry that led to Nathaniel Phillips’ return from Stuttgart.
But while neither suffered an injury, it remains that Van Dijk and Gomez were somewhat run into the ground over December.
Matip’s return is timed perfectly, then and he’ll surely allow both to get needed rest over the next month or two. And it’s rest they’ll need if they’re to see out the season.
Liverpool did get a little lucky over December but it’s important they don’t ride that luck too far. The duo need managing and it’ll be one of Klopp’s biggest jobs in the New Year.
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