Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk picked up a knee injury against Everton over the weekend and the Dutchman is set to be sidelined for several months.
It seems unlikely that the player will return to action again this season and his teammate Gini Wijnaldum has now hit out at Jordan Pickford whose reckless tackle resulted in the long-term injury to Van Dijk.
During the pre-match presser for the Ajax game, the Dutch midfielder revealed that it was a stupid tackle and the Everton player did not bother to think about the consequences when he went into the challenge.
Wijnaldum also claimed that reckless tackles like this have been quite common from Everton players in the derby games.
Wijnaldum on van Dijk’s injury: “Of course we are upset. The way Pickford went in was completely stupid. I don’t believe he wanted to injure Virgil but the way he made the tackle he didn’t care about what happened after the tackle. It’s happened a lot in games against Everton.”
— Andy Hunter (@AHunterGuardian) October 20, 2020
Continues: “In my opinion they take it too far in the games we play against them. Richarlison on Thiago was also a nasty one. That’s what annoys me the most. You can be unlucky and injure someone but the way they were doing it was completely unacceptable.”
— Andy Hunter (@AHunterGuardian) October 20, 2020
Richarlison could have seriously hurt Thiago Alcantara with a horror tackle late in the game over the weekend. Previously, Funes-Mori had inflicted a long term injury on Divock Origi with a bad tackle and Holgate pushed Firmino over the advertising boards during a derby game.
It is evident that there is a lot of animosity between the players of the two clubs and it is easy to get carried away in games of this magnitude. However, Everton players are professionals who should be able to contain their aggression in these moments and not dish out career-threatening injuries every time they come up against their rivals.
Van Dijk is probably the best defender in the world right now and his absence will come as a major blow to Liverpool’s title hopes. It will be interesting to see if how the Reds perform in the league and the Champions league without the Dutchman.
More importantly, it remains to be seen how the 29-year-old recovers from his ACL damage. It is the type of injury that can seriously affect a player’s career and there is a possibility that Van Dijk might never reach his peak form again.
