Virgil van Dijk was reportedly not at his best last night as the Liverpool defender gave away a penalty for the Netherlands against the Republic of Ireland.
As per Independent’s Miguel Delaney, the Liverpool Captain Looked vulnerable in the last game for the Dutch. He conceded an early penalty due to which the Republic of Ireland took the lead over the Netherlands.
However, the Dutch did come back and went on to win 2-1 over Ireland. It was all thanks to another Liverpool player Cody Gakpo, whose penalty won it for the Dutch.
Meanwhile, for the Netherlands captain, it wasn’t his first defensive mistake of the season. He was sent off for Liverpool in their 2-1 win against Newcastle.
After a heated exchange with the referee following his red card, Liverpool’s No. 4 was given additional punishment as well.
And now Van Dijk is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons again. The Liverpool captain has to get these silly mistakes out of his game and be the version he was back in 2019.
Liverpool desperately needs the old Virgil Van Dijk back
Van Dijk’s performances this season for club and country have been concerning, to say the least. And Jurgen Klopp will want something done about the defender sooner rather than later.
He was handed the captaincy this season after the departures of Jordan Henderson and James Milner.
The 32-year-old was rock solid for the Reds in their Champions League-winning season. For his defensive displays, he was nominated for the Ballon d’Or, falling only short to Lionel Messi, who won the award.
However, he has been a shadow of himself since and last season was another example of it. This season though, he has started well but a few mistakes are popping up every now and then.
Moreover, ahead of his return to the Liverpool squad, he has to regain his old form if he’s to stand a chance at leading the Reds to glory.
I’m a football enthusiast and an avid writer and someone who lives by the Bill Shankly quote, on a day to day basis.
