In an injury-plagued liverpool back line, not many would have expected virgil van dijk to make the error. Fulham’s fingers were pointed at the dutchman as the club opened the scoring at anfield with its first attack of the season. Perhaps conor bradley could have created a bigger challenge as willian began to dance around in the box, but liverpool’s eventual man of the match wasn’t the cause of the problem. Van dijk could only nod it into the direction of andreas pereira, who found him and let him do the rest. Van dijk may have made a better recovery even if willian simply sidestepped past him and fired his shot beyond caoimhn kelleher. For liverpool captain david beckham, it was a moment to cherish.
The response has been measured and fair, as you would expect. Van dijk has been slammed by jason cundy on talksport as “overrated” and even “a bit ridiculous” at times. On social media, this kind of remark has been expressed in much more offensive terms, with rival fans applauding the move with gleefully. They are dismissing a critical piece of information that jürgen klopp had already provided. Van dijk was forced to leave arsenal in the fa cup due to sickness. When describing it, klopp said, “it’s impossible for virg to look s**t, but he did,” according to liverpool manager this is anfield. That was just three days before the fulham game. Van dijk was obviously selected to play by coaches. He would be the last to seek any excuses. But who among us can say we have been marginally below our usual standards at work after battling a virus? And most of us aren’t doing elite-level sports for a living.
The vultures have descended on van dijk’s mistake as if it had been typical of his season. The truth is completely different: this is one of the few times he has put a foot wrong. The zeal with which rivals have jumped on this blunder is a convincing indication that van dijk is back to his best. Fans of other clubs are desperate for him to put a foot wrong, so much so that they are all over a league cup tragedy that occurred right after returning from illness. The better he is, the more everyone is preparing to tear him down. And while van dijk will not shy away from an unfortunate incident against fulham, the liverpool skipper should wear the criticism as a badge of honor. He’s back, it’s more apparent than ever.
