Trent Alexander Arnold has called upon his Liverpool FC teammates to regroup defensively following Virgil van Dijk’s long-term injury sidelining the colossal centre-back for possibly the entire 2020-21 season.
The 29-year old Dutch international is arguably the most important figure in the four-man backline of Jurgen Klopp’s side, and with his continued absence for the remainder of the ongoing campaign, the Reds have suffered a major loss to their defensive core.
However, Arnold believes that the Merseyside giants will bounce back from Van Dijk’s loss to an ACL injury, and would adapt quickly to the changing scenario of events at Anfield in the coming weeks.
In an interview to Liverpoolfc.com, the English international voiced his praise for Fabinho’s slotting in the centre-back role to perfection in recent games, despite admitting that Van Dijk’s absence in the Liverpool FC XI means that his voice of leadership and communication has gone missing for the Anfield outfit.
“His communication and leadership is massive for us back there, he’s probably the leader of the back four and obviously without him it’s a bit strange because this is probably the first time and the first spell where we haven’t had him since he’s came in.
“So it’s a bit weird for us but we want to adapt and adjust and I think in the two games we’ve been without him – well, three if you include Everton – we’ve shown how good we are defensively.
“Fab’s stepped up and done an amazing job in there [and] Joey G is stepping up and leading as well.
“So even though it’s disappointing not to have Virg, it’s also an opportunity for us to come together as a back four and show our leadership and show that even though Virg is a big miss, hopefully we won’t miss him as much as everyone potentially thinks.”
