Liverpool's head of osteopathy says the decision to join the club last summer was a no-brainer, describing working for the club as "the highest you can get".
Physician Frigyes Vanden Auweele was taken on in July and installed as the club's head of osteopathy, with Liverpool detailing his role as someone who was brought in to "enhance performance and reduce the risk of injury" within Jurgen Klopp's squad.
The Belgian moved to Anfield on the back of work at football club Oud-Heverlee Leuven, cycling team Trek-Segafredo and volleyball club VHL, according to Liverpoolfc.com.
Liverpool says Dr Vanden Auweele joined "as a specialist in osteopathy, which aims to identify, treat and prevent issues in the athlete’s body by focusing on the dysfunction of the locomotor system and the peripheral and autonomic nervous system. The main goal is to enhance performance and reduce the risk of injury."
And Dr Vanden Auweele, who is part of Andreas Schlumberger's team in the medical department, told the club's official website how he couldn't turn down the chance to move to Liverpool to help Klopp and his staff at the AXA Training Centre in Kirkby.
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He said: “I was asked to come. First they didn’t tell me which team. I was pretty busy already and I didn’t know which team it was but when I heard which team it was I couldn’t say no.
“Obviously as a sports therapist, as a sports osteopath it’s the highest you can get. Trek-Segafredo was also a world team so I worked with very, very high athletes, world athletes. But this is something else.
“Also, that I can do my thing full-time here is also new for me because I was working as a consultant, which means I give advice and then I cannot follow up on it all the time. That’s new for me that I can do the sports osteopathy thing and I can follow up on that.
“That’s also very valuable for me: not only give the advice but also do the treatments and follow up on the treatments. I’m very proud I can do this because obviously as a sports therapist it’s the highest you can reach, so I hope to do my thing here and I can be of value. I’m happy to be here."
Liverpool say the osteopath gained a master’s degree in physical therapy at the KU Leuven research university before studying at Antwerp’s Flanders International College of Osteopathy.
Dr Schlumberger was taken on in 2020 and was given enhanced responsibilities towards the back end of last season as the Reds chased an unprecedented quadruple before Dr Auweele joined his expanded team ahead of the the start of the current season.
Despite their efforts, however, Liverpool have struggled with fitness issues throughout much of the campaign. Thiago Alcantara was sidelined for a month after pulling up with an injury on the opening day of the campaign against Fulham at a time when Diogo Jota and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were both sidelined with hamstring issues. Thiago has recently aggravated a hip issue and could miss the next month.
Naby Keita had to wait until December for his return to action, while Jota also suffered a serious calf issue in the 1-0 defeat of Manchester City in mid-October. Roberto Firmino missed the last 10 games prior to his return in Monday's Merseyside derby win over Everton, while Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk have both suffered hamstring problems of their own this calendar year.
Luis Diaz underwent knee surgery in December after suffering a setback in his rehabilitation following an injury picked up at Arsenal in early October. The Colombian winger is not expected back until March as things stand.
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