[https://www.thisisanfield.com/2020/10/explaining-virgil-van-dijks-acl-knee-injury-return-timeline-career-implications/]
Thought this was a good article from a doctor detailing Virgil's injury and likely scenarios going forward. Two points of emphasis:
1. Trying to get him back this season is likely to increase the risk of a further setback. We should resist that temptation no matter how much the idea of having a healthy Virgil back for the final month or so would appeal. Just settle that he's gone until next season unless there is a very surprising news item about his injury still to come.
2. Even when he returns (next season), we are probably looking at another 12 months before he has a chance to play at the same high level we've been accustomed to.
2 years out, wtf??? I get that for a striker it can take a while to rehabilitate fully but I thought it was quicker for defenders. I have a funny feeling we'll see Virgil back before the end of the season, I also think we'll cope ok with his loss, sure we'll concede more but then we'll just have to shift gear and score more ourselves, change our setup back to heavy metal football a bit.
The first objective now is survive until we get Alisson back, luckily our next 2 opponents are Sheff Utd and West Ham which should be beatable, I fancy us to outscore both teams, to hell with clean sheets at this point.
Second objective is to survive until January, at that point we are going to have spend whatever it takes to get a top CB in.
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