Liverpool’s defensive leaks are to be blamed on captain Virgil van Dijk, who deserves to be dropped on his current form amid the Reds’ worrying slump in form.
The claims of Liverpool’s defense aren’t stacking up. Despite the number of goals, Arne Slott’s team still conceded goals.
And I don’t just mean Liverpool’s title defense, I mean the team’s actual defense. Since the start of the season, Liverpool have kept three clean sheets in all competitions.
They have conceded 11 goals in their last six games in all competitions. And the man most culpable for Liverpool’s downfall is the man who seems immune to criticism in the red half of Merseyside.
It wasn’t that long ago that Virgil van Dijk was considered the best centre-back in the world. But at this point, he’s not even the best player on his team.
During the recent home defeat to arch-rivals Manchester United, Ibrahima Konate did everything he could to put his partner in crime out of trouble.
But in the defeat to Brentford at the weekend, there was little the Frenchman could do to prevent Van Dijk’s exposure. The Dutchman was responsible for conceding a penalty with a naive trip at Dango Utara.
read more: Wayne Rooney slams Mohamed Salah’s ‘work ethic’, slams Liverpool legendread more: Arne Slott discovers what Liverpool have ‘lost’ as Wirtz and Isak is not the biggest problem
And when Kevin Shade ran through and doubled Branford’s lead before halftime, he was nowhere to be seen.
In short, this is far from the standard Van Dijk expects of himself, or the standard that Slott and Liverpool expect from the 34-year-old.
Has age caught up with him? This season Van Dijk has looked like a pale imitation of his former self.
Konate’s overall poor form and the failure of new signing Milos Kerkes, who is like a rabbit in the headlights, when it comes to dealing with the frenetic pace of English football are dragging it down.
Slott has made some big decisions in recent weeks, including releasing the likes of Mo Salah and Florian Wirtz.
But will he have the courage to score the ultimate goal – and rule out his captain’s nemesis from Aston Villa’s visit this weekend?
It is almost inconceivable by mere thought. However, once again, Liverpool could have lost their fourth league match due to this spin.
United are currently ahead of them in the table, which would be humiliating for the English champions. Difficult times call for drastic measures.
Perhaps a break will be good for Van Dijk. Give him a chance to reevaluate his game and work out what’s going wrong.
Like Salah, Van Dijk may also be lacking motivation. But if Liverpool aren’t careful, they stand to lose something more important. They have a realistic chance of overthrowing Arsenal in the title race.
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