Speaking on Premier League Productions’ Generation xG, Tim Sherwood has been discussing Liverpool’s defence and Virgil van Dijk.
It’s more than fair to say that the Reds’ backline hasn’t been up to scratch at all this season. They’re leaking goals and their star players at the back, quite simply, aren’t performing.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has received the most criticism, but van Dijk has also been below-par so far this term and Sherwood has pointed out some of his flaws.
Sherwood on van Dijk
The ex-Tottenham manager critiqued the Dutchman.
“It annoys me watching Liverpool at the moment, including Virgil van Dijk because at the moment he’s not running back with enough urgency and enough pace,” Sherwood said.
The pundit then went on to speak about more of Liverpool’s defensive issues.
“I would look to the main man, Virgil van Dijk and I think he needs to be a bit more nasty with his teammates and start telling them some home truths.”
Lost confidence
All of the things that Sherwood points out can be attributed to one thing – confidence.
The centre-back isn’t leading the team in the same way, he’s not playing with as much intensity and he’s not being nasty enough, and perhaps that’s because for the first time in a long time he’s doubting himself.
From day one this season, when he was given the runaround by Aleksandar Mitrovic, van Dijk has been shakey, and if that doesn’t change soon, Liverpool’s form won’t improve either.
The Dutchman, when he’s at his best, is Liverpool’s most important player, but when he’s off his game, the Reds are a completely different team.
Liverpool and van Dijk need to turn their seasons around.
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