Van Dijk needs looking after and rotation is answer, indicates James Milner

The 30-year-old sat out a large portion of the 2020-21 campaign as he incurred knee ligament damage following a challenge from Jordan Pickford in the Merseyside Derby.  However, Van Dijk has been carefully managed by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp so far, with the German boss unwilling to play the Dutch international in every game. However, even then the defender has already featured in seven games for club and country which is a concern.

However, the number of appearances has seen James Milner stress the importance of rotation for the Dutch international. The Liverpool star further revealed that even though Virgil Van Dijk is Superman in the eyes of players and supporters alike, proper care should be administered to the Dutch defender to avoid a repeat of last season's struggles for the Reds.

“We all think Virg is Superman and he is, 99 times out of 100. But the injury that he has come back from - and to look as good as he has done since he has come back - you know, he's not 21. He needs looking after as well, no matter how angry he gets at being left out of the team. He is going to need looking after and that is rotation,” Milner told reporters.

I think it (rotation) is obviously important. The positions we got into last year, we were unlucky with injuries and players having to play out of position. I think it is to help with things like that," he added.