Premier League Boxing Day match, Liverpool away to Burnley. Before the game, Reds captain Virgil van Dijk spoke to the development of centre-back partner Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez at left-back.
On Konate, Van Dijk said: "He's still growing, he's a great defender. He has everything it takes to be an absolute top centre-back. ”
We have a high demand on ourselves, we have the ball in the game, the defence is very high, you have to have the pace, you have to chase back and defend the space behind you. He also needs pace and headers and he does it well. It means getting used to playing every three days, taking care of your body, managing games and training, and when to do certain things. ”
He's learning and I talk to him a lot about things because it's my responsibility to share the experience with him and he can do better than he is now, and the same goes for Quaanza. I just want to share my experience, I've been playing for a while and it's been quite successful and I'm trying to give young players that opportunity. These players are even better at this age than I am my age, but it's clear that a career is a long-term plan. I'm happy with where Konate is but he can get better and he can continue to improve. It's great to see that they're making progress, and it's great to see that they're willing to listen and learn, so let's see what difference that can make. ”
Liverpool left-backs Robertson and Tsimikas are both out injured, with Joe Gomes set to make a cameo at left-back. Van Dijk said: 'It all happened so fast and now unfortunately Tsimikas is also injured (with a broken collarbone) and we have to deal with that and hopefully it won't last long. ”
Joe Gomez is already playing in that position and he's doing a great job. When you're not used to playing every three days, you have to manage your body well and I have a lot of confidence in Joe Gomez and his abilities. We can also adapt and play in different ways. We have to find a solution, we will, we have young players. ”
Luis Díaz got a knock on the knee, but he should be fine, let's see how it goes, Tsimikas' injury looks worse than everyone expected. ”
The team has to be consistent and I think we're doing that, we're doing our best to play well and we've done well so far. There's only one training session between games, and if you say it's crazy, then it's probably true, but obviously everybody is talking about it and the manager is talking about those things all the time (about the intensive fixtures). ”
I've said that in the past, and it seems to me that things have to change. But it (the Boxing Day race) brings joy to the people and we have to be ready. ”