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After Liverpool beat AC Milan 3-1, Virgil van Dijk emphasised the importance of recovery and what the squad must do to stay fit.
Arne Slot made two changes to his starting XI that lost against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
We saw the positives and negatives of what this rotation brings during Liverpool’s win over Milan, with Kostas Tsimikas rustiness leading to Milan’s opener but improving as the night went on.
There were only benefits, though, where Cody Gakpo was concerned, as the Dutchman proved his sharpness several times on the left wing.
After scoring on his 50th Champions League appearance, Van Dijk told Prime Video: “I think everyone here at Liverpool knows that he (Slot) inherited a very good squad in my opinion, talented with experience.
“But obviously, it’s about doing it on a consistent basis, week in, week out, and obviously with the amount of games that we play now, we have to be consistent if you want to achieve things.
“Obviously, during the weekend was disappointing and if we have those type of blips, we can’t be achieving good things this season. So we all know that and we have to all step up.
“But today was a good reaction and something that we have to build on. And we all know we’re going to have a tough game on the weekend as well, they’re a very good football team that make it difficult for a lot of football teams.”
While they may not quite be the fortresses of old, wins at Old Trafford and San Siro have already shown Liverpool can handle the pressure against so-called bigger teams.
However, their performance against Forest proved that not everything is yet perfect under Slot.
Following Tuesday’s win, Clarence Seedorf asked Van Dijk: “What would be the most important thing now [going] forward to do?”
Liverpool’s captain replied: “It sounds very easy but the consistency, like you have to stay fit. You have to do everything in your power to be ready for the next game, whether you start or not.
“And you have to feel part of the winning games so we need all the guys to be ready. You know, the guys that are on the bench, they might be disappointed.
“Today we made two substitutes (starting lineup changes) with Robertson and Luis Diaz, and obviously they want to play these games but we need everyone in the best shape of their life and respect the decisions.
“And I think that’s key in order to be successful because there will be rotation. We need everyone to keep pushing and do everything in their power to stay fit.
“So we go home now, back home in the middle of the night but obviously recovery starts already, eat the right stuff, because on Saturday, it will be a very tough game and we need everyone at their best so that’s key.
“We’re in a cycle and if you want to be successful, you have to make that sacrifice as well.”
If Liverpool can get into a positive groove, repeating a winning cycle week after week as we saw in 2022, we could be in for an exciting season.
However, if it takes Slot longer to learn how to rotate and win while not playing at 100 percent, it could deny Liverpool the major honours this time around.
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