Wout Weghorst has hit the headlines after a video of him touching the This Is Anfield sign before Liverpool‘s 7-0 win over Manchester United went viral.
The Dutchman has been heavily criticised, as it is highly unusual for an opposition player to touch the sign, let alone one who represents Liverpool’s bitter rivals Manchester United.
Weghorst has since responded to the criticism by insisting that he was merely trying to stop Virgil van Dijk touching the sign, and slow motion footage seems to back that up.
Weghorst touches This is Anfield sign
Addressing the situation on Instagram, the Netherlands international said: “From the national team I know that Virgil always touches the sign. The only intention I had was to stop him touching it and wind him up.”
That was met with mockery by those on social media, as the striker still appears to touch the sign.
However, when the footage is slowed down, Weghorst does only raise his hand once Van Dijk goes to touch the sign, before the head of Marcus Rashford blocks us from seeing if their hands make contact.
Ultimately, the 30-year-old doesn’t do himself any favours by leaving his hand on the sign after going to swat Van Dijk’s away, although it could be argued that it was just a natural landing spot for it once he had finished his attempt to “wind up” his fellow countryman.
Weghorst situation should be done and dusted
While we can understand the anger from Manchester United fans, the situation should be over now.
In truth, had Manchester United won the game at Anfield, there probably wouldn’t be any frustration towards Weghorst – it seems as if some are simply taking their anger out on what he did.
Weghorst didn’t really need to come out and address the situation, but now he has offered an explanation, it should be put to bed.
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