Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk has played far too much on the back of his ACL injury two years ago.
That’s the view of pundit Karen Carney. Speaking on The Kelly & Wrighty Show on Optus Sport, Carey claimed that the Liverpool man’s workload has been too much.
“Van Dijk when he did his ACL, usually when you come back from the ACL you ween your way back in first season and then play more in the second,” said the former England player.
“But he has played more football in the back end of last season on the back end of an ACL than he did before.
“The amount of loading the players are going through is too much. I think everyone [at Liverpool] is five percent off and it’s more mental fatigue. I just think mentally they went through everything last season to go for four trophies and to just fall at the last hurdle you are so deflated.”
Van Dijk playing with one eye on the World Cup
Van Dijk’s case this season is a little bit of a strange one. He is playing a lot for Liverpool – he’s the only outfield player to feature in every minute of the Premier League season for the Reds.
But it seems unlikely that his injury is still a factor here. The 31-year-old had the same heavy workload last season. Virgil started 34 league games in 2021/22, playing 51 times in all competitions. He would have started more but for a bout of Covid, too.
And after an understandably rusty start, he came into his own in the second half of the campaign. By the end of it Van Dijk was arguably just as good as ever.
So, it feels more like a case of mental fatigue than anything.
On top of that, there could be the added distraction of the upcoming World Cup. Van Djik is famously yet to feature in a major tournament for his country, who he captains.
Having missed last year’s European Championship, he’ll be absolutely desperate to make it to Qatar later this month.
Consciously or otherwise, perhaps that’s just affecting his performances this season. Not wanting to get injured, maybe Van Dijk is just easing off ever so slightly.
At this level, and with plenty of his teammates also below-par, that can make all the difference. Fingers crossed we see a better Van Dijk once the World Cup is done with.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
