The lyrics of You’ll Never Walk Alone are a call to persist through adversity in the faith that better things are to come, and one Liverpool player has been a walking example of that mantra.
The 2022/23 season has been largely frustrating one for Sepp van den Berg, who’s seen his loan spell at Schalke 04 ruined by an ankle ligament injury which kept him out of first-team action for almost seven months (Transfermarkt).
He made his comeback in last weekend’s Bundesliga clash against Werder Bremen and, despite only coming on for the final 13 minutes as a substitute, he made a telling impact by scoring the equaliser in his team’s 2-1 victory, which could prove priceless in their chase for top-flight survival.
It was a cathartic moment which meant a lot for the 21-year-old on both an individual and collective level, as he said afterwards (via Liverpool Echo): “I am simply delighted. I made my return, I got my first goal for Schalke and most importantly, we picked up three important points as a team.
“A lot of things went through my head in that moment. I have been out injured for more than half a year and I have worked day in, day out to finally be able to play in this wonderful stadium again. It’s like a dream.”
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If anyone associated with Liverpool was due a break this season, it’s Van den Berg.
He had seemed on course to get regular game-time at Schalke, having started their first four matches of the campaign (Transfermarkt), only for his cruel injury blow to rob him of more than half a year of competitive football.
When he made a brief comeback in a match for the German club’s reserve team in March, he endured further misfortune as a truly luckless own goal preceded a further setback over his fitness.
Van den Berg must’ve been wondering when his luck would ever change – Saturday’s crucial goal against Werder Bremen may just be that moment.
Almost four years after signing for the Reds, he’s still waiting for a real breakthrough at Anfield, making just four senior appearances, all of which came in domestic cups in 2019/20 (Transfermarkt).
His abortive loan spell with Schalke means he realistically won’t be in contention to push for a first-team place with the Reds any time soon, but let’s hope his goal at the weekend will finally be the catalyst for him to make light of the horrendous misfortune he’s endured since October.