Mohamed Salah admits adjusting without Virgil van Dijk was a difficult process for Liverpool because of how the team was structured to play with the centre-back. Van Dijk played in every Liverpool match for two successive seasons in the Premier League, making 100 appearances for the Reds in the process in all competitions before he was forced to have an operation on a knee injury recently. Van Dijk is not expected to feature prominently this term because of the ACL issue sustained from a shocking challenge by Jordan Pickford in the Merseyside derby draw with Everton on October 17.
Mohamed Salah “The situation was difficult at the beginning, Especially that he had played all the matches since he joined the team three years ago, and the defence plan is built around him. But at the same time, we had to deal with his absence. Thank God that the young players showed confidence, as seen in recent matches. Even when Fabinho moved back and was injured, the young players did well, with help from the senior players, who boosted their spirits and confidence. I believe we were able to stand on our feet again. After that loss, we drew once and won four or five other matches. It was not easy, especially with Virgil’s injury, but thank God we were able to return to our normal position and to win all the matches. In the end, we accepted what happened. A loss is a loss, regardless of the number of goals you concede, but it was difficult for us to lose 0-7 when we are champions of England and the holders of the UEFA Champions League title two years ago. When you face such a situation, you have two options: to sit down and lament what happened or to move forward and create a positive reaction. We took the second option.”
