Liverpool came through an intense run of five matches in 15 days with its Premier League prospects looking brighter than ever. After a rare week between games, Arne Slot's men will now look to keep their Champions League hopes alive as well, and Virgil van Dijk has lifted the lid on one of the manager's decisions in the lead-up to the tricky fixture against PSG.
With both Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister admitting to tirendess recently, the respite in the schedule will surely be welcome. Ironically, the two midfielders have looked better than ever over this congested period, but everyone has a breaking point — Slot will just have to hope that the pause does not come at the expense of momentum.
He does not seem unduly concerned. In fact, Van Dijk has revealed that Slot has elected to give the players multiple days off during the brief break from action.
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When Richard Hughes shortlisted Slot, his record of injury prevention was one of the factors he considered. Together with his backroom staff, the Dutchman boasted a consistently strong history of keeping key players fit.
This was particularly impressive given that Slot was also considered a close sylistic match for Jurgen Klopp. His arrival has certainly not signalled a marked drop in intensity at Anfield, yet the injury issues that dogged previous campaigns have been kept largely at bay.
As such, nobody will be rushing to question his wisdom over when and when not to afford players days off. Slot has been a little more liberal with these training breaks than Klopp — and Van Dijk has highlighted a secondary advantage of this policy.
"It will be difficult but these are the games you want to compete in and I am really looking forward to it," Van Dijk told Liverpoolfc.com as he previewed the PSG clash. "Before that we've had some time with our family, a chance to spend some time with the kids and reflect on the last couple of weeks and then we look ahead to what is coming."
Of course, football is these players' jobs, and happens to pay extremely well. Even so, it's always important to remember that managers are dealing with real people who have real lives outside the sport.
Especially when the schedule gets busy, players can be almost constantly away from their families. That can take a toll.
With the fixture calendar finally relenting, Van Dijk has clearly appreciated the time to recharge with those closest to him. Combined with the benefits of a proper physical rest, Slot and his staff have seemingly made the judgement that this is more valuable than extra time on the training pitch.
The proof, ultimately, is in the results. So far, these have certainly not been lacking under Slot — and while the next test is a big one, Van Dijk and the rest of the team will be physically and mentally ready for it.
