Pundit has noticed worrying Van Dijk sign ahead of injury return
It feels as if Liverpool’s 2020/21 issues have returned with a vengeance with the Reds’ conceding six goals in three league games since Virgil van Dijk’s injury.The absence of any leadership at the back has become quickly evident for Alan Hutton after reviewing Joe Gomez and Joel Matip’s partnership in the heart of the backline […]
The post Pundit has noticed worrying Van Dijk sign ahead of injury return appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.
It feels as if Liverpool’s 2020/21 issues have returned with a vengeance with the Reds’ conceding six goals in three league games since Virgil van Dijk’s injury.
The absence of any leadership at the back has become quickly evident for Alan Hutton after reviewing Joe Gomez and Joel Matip’s partnership in the heart of the backline for the 3-0 defeat to Wolves.
“He went with Gomez and Matip and they are two players that strike me as needing to play with someone like Van Dijk. He is the leader and I think they need to play alongside someone like that,” the former Aston Villa defender told Football Insider.
“When they are together I just feel like something is going to happen.
“Konate is out injured as well so it is a difficult period of time, it just seems like nothing is clicking.”
Add on top Ibrahima Konate’s spell in the treatment room and Jurgen Klopp faces quite the conundrum ahead of the Merseyside derby against another rejuvenated side in Sean Dyche’s Everton.
READ MORE: Liverpool could still get $450bn rich new owners as FSG talks continue amid Man Utd bid
READ MORE: ‘No-one has the bottle…’ – Didi Hamann makes Klopp demand after James Pearce snub
At a time when we’re looking increasingly rudderless on the pitch, we need an injection of leadership quickly, which does justify, to an extent, calls for Jordan Henderson’s return to the midfield.
Equally, of course, we can ill afford for standards to drop even lower if our skipper produces another stinker of a performance at Anfield next week.
Top four looks unattainable as things currently stand, so the decisions from the coaching team have to be absolutely spot-on from here on out.
Van Dijk’s return to the backline on Monday would provide a huge boost to morale (not to mention the level of quality on the pitch) but perhaps the introduction of no-nonsense defender Nat Phillips could be exactly what our prospective centre-back partnership needs.
40% of Liverpool’s summer loans failed – what’s happened to the club’s loan system?
The post Pundit has noticed worrying Van Dijk sign ahead of injury return appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.