Liverpool’s defender Virgil van Dijk stunned the fans of the club on Friday when he took to social media to share pictures of his rehabilitation process at the newly constructed Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre.
In the caption of the pictures he shared on both Instagram and Twitter, the 29-year-old Netherlands defender wrote: “Working harder than ever..”
Since November 18, Virgil van Dijk has not been able to play any competitive match for Liverpool nor for the Dutch national team due to a damaged knee ligament he sustained during a Premier League match between Liverpool and Everton on November 17.
Towards the 11th minute of the Merseyside derby which ended 2-2 at Goodison Park, Everton’s goalkeeper Jordan Pickford made a hard tackle on Virgil van Dijk who was in the opposition’s box-eighteen to head in a cross. The tackle was so bad that the Dutch defender could not continue with the match and had to be substituted in the 11th minute with Joseph Dave Gomez.
On that same day, the defender was taken to the hospital where a critical check was carried out on the injured knee. After the medical check, it was confirmed that the defender would have to undergo surgery to treat the knee injury and it was feared that he might not be available for Liverpool for the rest of the 2020-2021 season.
The surgery went well but for the past five weeks, Liverpool’s fans did not have the opportunity to see the defender until on Friday when he posted pictures of his recovery process. The pictures excited the club’s fans because the images showed that it is possible to have their star defender back before the season ends in May.
Working harder than ever.. pic.twitter.com/ooh7kOSxnn
— Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk) December 4, 2020
The pictures also gave the fans a sigh of relief because barely three days before Virgil van Dijk shared the pictures, the manager of Liverpool football club, Jurgen Klopp said the knee of the Dutch defender is not yet in a good shape despite undergoing successful surgery.
The manager who stated this at a pre-match press conference ahead of Liverpool’s UEFA Champions League group match against Ajax on Tuesday which ended 1-0 in favor of Liverpool, noted that the defender “is doing well” considering the nature of the injury “but the knee doesn’t look good”.
“His knee doesn’t look good, to be honest; it doesn’t look like a knee should look – but it looks good for a knee with that surgery and the time he had since the surgery”, added Klopp.
Since Virgil van Dijk went out injured, Liverpool have played 10 matches. Liverpool have recorded a massive 7 victories in all competitions, two draws, and just a defeat without Van Dijk and other star players that are still battling to recover from their injuries.
Liverpool have been doing so well that they are currently second on the league table with the same 21 points as the current league leaders Tottenham Hotspur. They have also qualified for the UEFA Champions League round of 16 without their best defender.
