Jurgen Klopp confirms Virgil van Dijk plan and drops Ibrahima Konate hint

Jurgen Klopp confirms Virgil van Dijk plan and drops Ibrahima Konate hint

Liverpool Echo Sports·2021-08-22 14:00

Jurgen Klopp believes Virgil van Dijk passed a proper test against the brute force of Burnley but can expect to be benched in the coming weeks.Van Dijk impressed on his first competitive Anfield appearance since suffering cruciate ligament damage last October as the Reds earned a 2-0 win on Saturday.The Dutchman also played a part in the second goal for Sadio Mane with a trademark crossfield pass during the build-up.And of the defenders attacking threat from the back, Klopp said: That is really helpful, but the package of Virgil is really helpful.Read more: 'I'm telling you now' - Jordan Henderson fires Liverpool warning to Premier League rivalsIts cool having Virgil back. He was for sure in moments on the edge today, not physically or in a dangerous way, just because the intensity of the game was incredible, especially for the centre-halves.The ball constantly in the air, the referee giving absolutely nothing, strikers in your body, you jump and get down. That was a proper test today and Virg passed it.Van Dijk was partnered by Matip, who was making his first Anfield outing since January, while Joe Gomez emerged from the bench late on having been out since November.And with £36million signing Ibrahima Konate still waiting for his Reds debut, Klopp is prepared to rotate his centre-back resources following next months international break.Sign up for daily Liverpool newsGet all the latest Liverpool breaking news, team news, transfer rumours, injury updates plus analysis of what's next for the Reds.You'll also get the latest transfer talk and analysis every day for FREE! Sign up here - it only takes a few seconds!I like talking about Virgil but I dont like talking about last season when he didnt play, I have to mention again that Joel Matip and Joe Gomez didnt play either, which didnt make the situation any easier, and people tend to forget how good they are, said the Liverpool boss.Because of the things that happened during the last year, we needed desperately the fourth centre-back. Now we have six with Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips.They will all play, the first four will definitely play and we have to mix it up and we will do that.None of these guys, especially those after a long injury, should play all the time three games a week. We need to find a way to get used to that.But this game today, there was no chance to change from last week because you needed to be used to each other to face this Burnley team.They were very impressive, and the new idea of letting the game flow doesnt make it easier. It was a tough and intense game as always against Burnley and we won it.Read MoreRelated ArticlesRead MoreRelated Articles

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