Virgil van Dijk’s injury has formed a major part of the media agenda since it happened on Saturday.
There has been talk about the sanctions Jordan Pickford should have faced, about how Liverpool will replace van Dijk and whether the title race is wide open.
Reds legend Jamie Carragher has shared how if Jurgen Klopp is asked too much about the Dutchman by the press, it could kill the confidence of Joe Gomez and Joel Matip.
As a Liverpool man, he wants that conversation to go dead in the weeks and months to come, because it means Klopp will be coping fine without van Dijk.
“Going back to (Carragher’s leg break in) 2003, the fall-out from my injury continued longer than was healthy for me or the club,” Carragher wrote in the Telegraph.
“Every time Liverpool suffered a negative result in the subsequent weeks, Houllier referenced my absence. It reached a point where the man who took my place, John Arne Riise, spoke privately to me about it.
“‘When the manager speaks about missing you it hurts my confidence,’ Riise told me. As the world reacted to Van Dijk, there was a danger Joe Gomez or Joel Matip could feel the same as Riise.
“That’s why the midweek win and clean sheet against Ajax felt massively important. Had Liverpool lost, all the questions to Klopp would have been about his absent centre-back. The less Klopp is asked about Van Dijk between now and his return, the better.
“It will mean his side is coping without him.”
Carragher is right. Look at the way Aymeric Laporte was referenced all the way through Manchester City’s doomed title defence last season.
He wasn’t even playing but he was on the lips of the pundits. That wouldn’t have happened if City were winning games.
If Liverpool are noticeably weaker without van Dijk, dropping points and looking off-colour, there will be a similar theme around Anfield this season.
Klopp will hope he can deal with the absence of his defensive lynchpin better than Pep Guardiola did, but it may take time and tactical adjustments.
If he’s still being asked about van Dijk by Christmas, it likely means his absence is still being keenly felt.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
