Age Has Caught Up To Salah And Van Dijk – Rooney

Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has warned Liverpool players Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah that age gets to every footballer eventually. This comes as the legendary duo approach the twilight of their careers at Anfield, and fans have been reacting.

Drawing parallels between his own career trajectory and the current situation facing Liverpool’s core leadership group, Rooney noted that even a club’s most influential leaders are not immune to a decline in physical levels as they enter their mid-thirties.

Wayne added that he accepted his MUFC exit after Zlatan Ibrahimovic joined and his minutes immediately reduced.

His words, “I said this since the start of the season, age gets to us all and your legs go. I think that’s happened to Salah this season and Virgil van Dijk hasn’t been the same this season.

They are the leaders in the dressing room. It’s hard for the other players to go and leave their mark or become the leaders. I don’t think he [Van Dijk] will [leave] but you’ve seen players when they’ve stayed there for too long.

The hardest thing for a player is to understand you may be not at the level you were. I did it at when Zlatan Ibrahimovic came in and I wasn’t playing. I wanted to play so I left straight away. I accepted it.”

WOW.

Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has played its home games at Anfield since its formation.

Domestically, the club has won 19 league titles, eight FA Cups, a record nine League Cups and 16 FA Community Shields. In international competitions, the club has won six European Cups, three UEFA Cups, four UEFA Super Cups—all English records—and one FIFA Club World Cup.

The club established itself as a major force in domestic and European football in the 1970s and 1980s, when Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish, led the club to a combined 11 League titles and four European Cups. Liverpool won two further European Cups in 2005 and 2019 under the management of Rafael Benítez and Jürgen Klopp, respectively; the latter led Liverpool to a 19th league title in 2020, the club’s first during the Premier League era.

Anfield was built in 1884 on land adjacent to Stanley Park. Situated 2 miles (3 km) from Liverpool city centre, it was originally used by Everton before the club moved to Goodison Park after a dispute over rent with Anfield owner John Houlding. Left with an empty ground, Houlding founded Liverpool in 1892 and the club has played at Anfield ever since. The capacity of the stadium at the time was 20,000, although only 100 spectators attended Liverpool’s first match at Anfield.