‘Really?’ – Virgil van Dijk hits back over Liverpool worry that multiple journalists have raised

Speaking after the loss to Man United, Van Dijk bristled at one reporter’s question about the Liverpool squad having ‘a few days off’ in the week leading up to the game.

He answered (via Mail Sport): “A few days off? You mean one day off?”, adding: “I think if you have one day off, and you don’t have many days off, they decide what they want to do with their families. We are not kids. Everyone is an adult.

“This week we have an early kick-off on Saturday [v Chelsea], so preparation is on that. Yesterday we were in a hotel. Today we played, so two days away [from] the family again. It’s not that we have a holiday whatsoever.”

(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Replying to claims that Liverpool haven’t been training enough, Van Dijk said: “Really? I wish we had a couple more days off at times because I think it works both ways. You see Pep Guardiola giving [Manchester] City three days off the last weeks in a row and they are doing pretty well.”

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Should Liverpool decision-makers have read the room a bit better?

It shouldn’t be forgotten that elite footballers have personal lives, with many of them having young families from whom they spent a lot of time away during the season, given the ever-increasing demands on players at the highest level.

Liverpool have had numerous instances of playing three matches in a week over the past few months, and a number of Reds players (including Van Dijk) will be representing their countries at the World Cup in a few weeks’ time.

It’s only right that footballers are allowed the freedom to switch off from the demands of elite sport and enjoy downtime with family, although the questions about LFC’s preparations for the Man United game are legitimate.

Considering how badly this season has gone, the optics of allowing players to jet off around Europe in the days leading up to a fixture against our arch-rivals are rather poor, especially when we haven’t yet qualified for the Champions League.

It was one thing for Liverpool to have a jolly-up this time last year after the Premier League title had already been secured. It’s another to be seemingly underprepared for an important game against a major rival, especially amid a dreadful campaign.

The only way Van Dijk and his teammates will dispel the questioning over what they’ve been doing off the pitch is by putting in strong performances and earning positive results on it.