Gary Neville has said on Sky Sports Premier League (10:30pm, August 22, 2022) that opposition players are now taking on Liverpool central defender Virgil van Dijk.
The Sky Sports pundit made the comments about Van Dijk while analysing the Netherlands international centre-back’s performance for Liverpool against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Monday evening.
The Red Devils won the match 2-1.
Van Dijk, one of the best centre-backs in the world, could have done better for the first goal that Liverpool conceded.
And former Manchester United star Neville believes that opposition players have started to get past the £220,000-a-week (Spotrac) Van Dijk ever since he had that long-term injury.
Van Dijk missed most of the 2020-21 campaign due to a serious knee injury.
Gary Neville on Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk
Neville said about Van Dijk on Sky Sports Premier League (10:30pm, August 22, 2022): “One thing I will say about Van Dijk is that there was a time when maybe last season, certainly before his injury, you wouldn’t even see players taking Van Dijk on.
“They would refuse it. They would pass it. They are now starting to think, ‘Oh, I have got a chance here. I might have a go at it’.”
Disappointing
In our opinion, Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk has been off his game in the opening games of the new Premier League season.
The Dutchman is not making the right decisions, not making the tackles at the right time, and seems to be coming second best in one-v-ones.
Now, of course, we know that all players go through a bad spell, and maybe it is now Van Dijk’s turn to endure a bad form.
Liverpool fans should not be worried, though, as everyone knows that the former Celtic star is one of the best centre-backs in the world.
Van Dijk will be fully aware of what he can do and how much he needs to raise his game.
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