Jurgen Klopp insists he is NOT worried about Virgil van Dijk’s form

Jurgen Klopp launched an impassioned defense of Virgil van Dijk and insisted he is not concerned with the form of his star defender.

The Dutch international returned from a six-week absence due to a hamstring injury to start against Newcastle on Saturday. Klopp wanted to get minutes with him at St James’s Park, so he was prepared for the Champions League showdown with Real Madrid.

But that 5-2 defeat ended with Van Dijk being one of many players in the spotlight. He is now 31 and critics believe he will never recover the form he displayed in his first two years at Anfield, when he helped Liverpool win the Champions League and Premier League.

While it is true that Van Dijk has struggled, the challenge he had in overcoming the horrific knee injury he sustained in October 2020, and the effort it took to come back, tends to go unmentioned. Klopp, on the other hand, sees things from another angle.

“I think differently because I give people time,” Klopp said. The outside world does not give people time. This world is a crazy place. Not just football but everything. We no longer have time for anything. We know everything right away, we google everything – bam! bam! bam! Now or never.

I am from another era. I know that everyone needs time to develop and get back to being their best. Everything needs time in life and everyone accepts it for themselves, but not for others. I couldn’t care less about that.

Klopp added about Van Dijk, who has played almost non-stop since August 2021: “But then again, he’s fine.” It’s part of the whole show to be judged. It’s completely normal for people to do that. We played two good games and you will write: ‘The best Van Dijk of all time!’

If Van Dijk looks bad, the same goes for Fabinho. He had been considered one of the best defensive midfielders in the world, but this season his form has gone off a cliff and has been a source of bewilderment for those who have watched him on a weekly basis.

The Liverpool coach acknowledges that the Brazilian international has had problems. It could also be said that the World Cup has had a detrimental effect on almost all of his team members who went to Qatar, compromising them with their form or with injuries in the last two months.

But once again, Klopp won’t judge him for having had a challenging period. He will bring the same level of patience to the 29-year-old, but he appreciates that patience is not enough for a club in Liverpool’s position.

“It took a while, but I think Fabinho now is completely different to what we saw four or five weeks ago, we have to keep it up now,” Klopp said. It’s like 80% but it wasn’t a problem at all in the game (against Madrid), he looked much better but he had to play a lot.

‘So it’s not like a click! Click! Click! He’s back, keep playing, this kind of thing because we have a lot of No 6s. Stefan (Bajcetic) can play him, Hendo can play him, but when Fabinho is at his best, it’s very important to have him there because he solves or used to solve a lot of situations for we.

‘That was good in these last few games. Fabinho returned from injury? No! It can just happen. A drop in form and no one was expecting it and you look at it and think, ‘OK, that’s interesting to watch.’ But yes, everything needs time in a business when there is no time. That’s the problem.’