No Liverpool fan needs to be reminded of how important Virgil van Dijk is to our team and so hearing that he has been sent home from international duty will strike fear for all supporters.
Taking to X, the account for the Netherlands national team posted: ‘Virgil van Dijk and Frenkie de Jong are not part of the squad for our final group stage game against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Nations League.
‘Ronald Koeman: “For both Frenkie and Virgil it is better for them to leave the training camp at this moment. That decision was taken on medical grounds, with of course the interest of the players coming first.”’
It’s not made clear whether this is because of injury or in order to rest the players but given the fact that both our captain and Frenkie de Jong have been dismissed at the same time, we can guess it may be not be anything sinister.
Our supporters will likely be thinking why our No.4 can be afforded this luxury but Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch can’t be offered the same but we perhaps shouldn’t complain too much.
As the Dutch cannot finish top of their Nations League group, they likely feel there’s little reason to risk their captain for what is a pretty pointless game.
Arne Slot must be delighted with seeing Virgil van Dijk rested
With Mo Salah also sitting this international break out as Egypt prioritise his fitness, it does appear that some focus has been placed on allowing our players to sit out of games they don’t need to play.
Add on Trent Alexander-Arnold recovering from injury, there are several players who will be returning from this break with no minutes played and closer to being at peak performance level.
Let’s hope this can relate to a continuation of the form that has seen us sit top of the Premier League.
You can view the Van Dijk update via @OnsOranje on X:
Virgil van Dijk and Frenkie de Jong are not part of the squad for our final group stage game against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the #NationsLeague. ℹ️
@RonaldKoeman: “For both Frenkie and Virgil it is better for them to leave the training camp at this moment. That decision was… pic.twitter.com/EPcqG31Aux— OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) November 18, 2024
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