Following a shocking defeat to the Cherries, several pundits have ripped into Virgil Van Dijk, calling the Liverpool star overrated.
After suffering a serious knee injury in October 2020, which kept him out of action for several months, Van Dijk made his return to the team in April 2021 but has struggled to regain his form since.
It’s important to note that returning from a serious injury can be challenging, and it’s not uncommon for players to take some time to get back to their best. But this season the number of defensive errors for the Reds just keeps on increasing.
For the goal conceded against Bournemouth, the star defender was slammed by pundits. He was criticized for letting the winger just run pass through him and put a cross in quite easily.
Van Dijk has been criticized more than once this season. He was also blamed for the team’s shambolic defending in the 3-3 draw against the Seagulls at Anfield.
Football pundit tags Liverpool star to be overrated
TalkSPORT pundit Jason Cundy believes Van Dijk is far too prone to errors to be compared to the likes of John Terry and Rio Ferdinand.\
“I think he’s overrated, personally. I think there’s a lot of media loving of what Van Dijk has done. No doubt he’s a brilliant centre half, [but] he makes too many mistakes,”
he said.
“Mistakes that I think go unnoticed. There was a goal they conceded when they went out a couple of seasons ago during COVID in the Champions League. And again, he has this languid style of running, he seems to try to buy time but doesn’t react.”
The 53-year-old further added saying:
“That is poor centre half play [when Van Dijk was outmuscled by Dominic Solanke] even though he’s on the other side.”
All of this criticism started way back in the Champions League final against Real Madrid. The Dutchman was hammered for being too stationary while defending crosses into the box which ultimately led to goals against his team.
Once considered the best defender the Premier League has ever had to be labeled as overrated has been very rough on the player. Van Dijk could still be back in top form considering he was ruled out with a hamstring injury in January.
Of course, it is not just Van Dijk who has struggled for the Merseyside giants this season. Several other players have underperformed, it is just that the amount of expectations the fans have from a player of his caliber is certainly not been fulfilled.
Liverpool have a huge summer ahead of them in terms of recruiting new players. A new center-back signing for a solid defensive partnership with Van Dijk would also be on the cards.
