It's difficult, of course, at times,
especially when you have bad moments, but I've got quite a good mentality in this case.
My wife helped me a lot, my teammates helped me a lot,
and for me myself, I want to be back out there,
I want to prove also to my teammates and the club
that I can be better or stronger than I was before.
I will try everything in my power to do that.
The hardest thing I think
is just from one moment to go from being active, full of energy,
preparing for games,
to one moment of doing absolutely nothing anymore.
In your head it's really important that there's a moment
where you say, "OK, that was the past, I need to look forward."
Second is the trust in the process, and patience in the process.
But Virgil is somebody who takes control in his own hand in many things;
he did that from the start, he informed himself well.
I know how you feel in these first days,
it's mentally and psychologically really difficult to accept,
in the beginning you hope that, "Hopefully it's not that severe",
but at the end, in that moment when the athlete is waking up from the surgery,
then he knows - OK, now healing starts.
PEP: This man has so much willpower and so much determination,
so we knew immediately that he can deal with it
and he will make sure that it goes through his standards.
Particularly with this injury it's all about how I react,
so every time you do new things, you have to see how it reacts -
how your knee reacts, how your body reacts.
So every time was a small step, but it was quite big for me mentally.
ANDREAS: I like this word, it's a 'guidance',
it's not that we tell a player,
"100 per cent you have to do it like this and then the outcome is totally clear."
It's a communication, a collaboration between the therapist and the athlete.
Virgil was in all stages a very, very active part of the whole process
and he did it with a really good mindset.
You have days where you feel worse than others,
you have good days where think you'll be fine, you'll be cruising again.
I'm not a robot, I'm not a machine, we're all human beings,
and I had to learn how to walk again - that's just how it is.
I lost 10 kilos of muscle in the beginning, I had to gain it all back,
I had to work a lot in the gym, which I didn't like before.
So, it was all things I had to just do,
and that comes with good days and bad days.
The only thing you just have to do is take every day as it is and keep working.
Another day...ticked off, another day closer.
Keep going.
The whole place was very lifted when me and Joe came back,
it was big for us, for me as well,
but it's also difficult, it's a lonely place when you're injured.
We spoke about anything already in life, but he was a massive help.
It's been a tough journey for both of us,
but to have each other in this case was a massive help.
He couldn't have a better guy next to him, to help him,
and the same goes for the other side.
I know how much it means if people are there for you when these things happen,
because you know throughout this period who you can count on and who you can't.
They are brothers, in my opinion.
I would say it took months to come to the conclusion on that day,
that he would be able to play his first game.
It's a very, very long process with a lot of people involved,
with a lot of assessment and monitoring,
trying to make things objective and not only to feel it's good.
It was a very intense day, intense week.
Obviously you're building up to it.
Me, I like to ask loads of questions on how will the game go,
so I'm asking, "How long will I play, will I play 20, why not 30?"
And I was busy with all these things.
PEP: That says a lot about his mentality as well,
the best players are like that, you have to slow them down.
He asked, "What's the plan?"
I said, "The plan is that you play a few super passes and that you start leading the line."
He said, That's with the package, Pep!"
I remember the moment when we were ready to come on,
and the manager came to me and gave me a hug, and I could have shed a tear there.
That was just emotional I was, it's just the relief, you've worked so hard for this moment.
It was a very special day for me, my family, the people that work with me,
the people that have been there for me, so...it's incredible.
100 per cent it makes you better, makes you stronger,
gives you more perspective on the situation you have,
on life, on being where I am in my career,
being at Liverpool, captain of the national team.
It put everything in perspective and you think about it a lot more than you did before.
All the team who worked with a player during rehab
will work with him after he's back with the team,
and there are a lot of things to do, like there are with all healthy players.
They are supporting the players to perform on their highest level,
and this is not so different to the healthy players, but with a different history,
and if you had a severe injury before in your knee,
there are some things you have to do in terms of ongoing prevention
so that you stay at your best level of performance,
and these progressions have to go on during the next weeks.
The hard periods, the periods where you are lonely and have to suffer,
the periods where it doesn't go your way,
the periods where you think it's all gone,
the periods when the voice in your head says,
"You will not make it, other players will catch you",
all these things, and overcoming these makes everybody a strong person.
That happens with these kinds of injuries for sure.
We're just really happy that he's back with us.
Long may it continue.
In my career I've thought about not wanting to have any regrets afterwards,
I want to give everything that I've got until the very last moment.
When that is, I've no clue,
but when I retire I want to sit there and think, "I gave everything."
And I feel like I can still do that with this knee as well.
Get success all together, and we'll see where it leads us.