49erssports.com - Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has denied any suggestion that the Reds' performance has declined because the players are saving energy and being careful not to get injured in order to play in the upcoming 2022 World Cup.
At the start of the 2022/2023 season, Liverpool made a bad start. They have never won in their first three matches.
Their performance is improving but Liverpool is not stable. Now they can only win two of their initial six matches in the Premier League.
As a result, Liverpool are now in eighth position in the EPL standings. They have just won nine points, nine points adrift of Arsenal at the top of the standings.
Van Dijk's rebuttal
There are a number of theories regarding the causes of Liverpool's decline in performance. Some say they ran out of gas and some claim it happened because a lot of players were injured.
There is now a theory that Liverpool's players will be distracted by the 2022 World Cup. So they did not play optimally and dueled carefully so as not to get injured and fail to compete in Qatar.
But Virgil van Dijk emphatically denied this. "No, absolutely not. I can assure you that it is not true. We are not in a situation because of that," he said, as reported by the Liverpool Echo.
"I would understand because from the start we were everyone looking for 'Why?' because the difference is too big (from last season) but I can assure you that it's definitely not one of the reasons. You focus on the game at that time and that's what we did.
Can't wait for UEFA Nations League
Now the competition in Europe will take a short break. Because there is an international break agenda.
Virgil van Dijk himself will play with the Netherlands in the event against Poland and Belgium. He also admitted that he could not wait to undergo these two matches and win.
"Obviously I'm really excited to lead the boys out there and do as well as we can. That's a big thing for us, now me and certain players have international games and the other players will train and play in friendlies to stay fit. and get fit and we'll get our players back after internationals."