Louis van Gaal has said that Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk will play Holland’s friendly against Germany tonight.
In an interview with NOS, the Holland head coach claims that he offered Van Dijk the night off. But Virgil ‘didn’t want to know.’
“He didn’t want to know anything about it, so yes, he has to play,” van Gaal said. “Virgil wants to play everything.”
The Liverpool centre-back will captain his side as they take on the Germans in Amsterdam at 7.45pm.
Making up for lost time
On the one hand, it’s great to hear that Virgil is feeling so good that he wants to play every single game on the calendar.
It is likely a result of The Reds number 4 making the difficult decision not to join up with Holland’s Euro 2020 squad last summer.
Having come right at the tail-end of his recovery from missing the season, it was no doubt the right decision for Virgil to make.
But it still must have hurt him to watch the tournament from home. His insistence on playing every available game right now must feel like some form of making up for missing those games.
Slow down Virgil!
Prior to his injury at the hands of Jordan Pickford, Van Dijk had shown himself to be an incredibly robust footballer. He missed less than a half of football in Liverpool’s two previous Premier League seasons.
As a result, it should come as no surprise that the Dutchman wants to play as often as he can. But having turned 30-years-old last summer, and fresh off the back of missing 10 months of football, it would be nice to see Van Dijk sit out if possible.
The Reds are still in contention for all four trophies as the season turns into its final straight. That means that there are enormous games coming up between now and May. Liverpool need Van Dijk, now back to his best, to play in as many of those as he can.
There aren’t many times where either Holland or Liverpool can do without Virg, but tonight’s friendly is definitely one such ocassion.
Chances are that the big man will stroll through the game like the Rolls Royce that he is. But Jurgen Klopp and all Liverpool fans will be relieved to get Van Dijk back in Liverpool with no harm done.
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