Owen Hargreaves felt Virgil van Dijk was visibly “annoyed” after Liverpool gave up further ground in the title race against West Ham.
The Reds headed into Saturday’s match at the London Stadium needed a win after losing the Merseyside derby in midweek. But Jurgen Klopp’s side were forced to settle for a point against the Hammers, who scored late to pinch a 2-2 draw.
The result has all but killed Liverpool’s hopes of sending Klopp off with another Premier League title, and his day was soured even further by a bizarre touchline bust-up with Mohamed Salah, who had to be pacified by Darwin Nunez before coming on as a substitute late in the second-half.
At the end of a chastening day for Liverpool, it was the Van Dijk’s body language which stood out to Hargreaves, who was analysing the game for Premier League Productions.
Speaking post-match, Hargreaves was asked about Liverpool’s title chances and replied bluntly: “Done and dusted. You just saw van Dijk hanging his head there, just annoyed, frustrated.
“I know he won’t be keen on farewells and goodbye but it’s nice to see all the [West Ham] players giving Klopp a hug. Disappointing for Liverpool, they should have won that game today. It’s been the last few weeks struggling to get it over the line.”
Although Klopp insisted that he and Salah had quashed any issue post-match, Salah stoke the flames by refusing to speak in the mixed zone, insisting there would be “fire” if he disclosed what happened between him and his manager.
Klopp’s bust-up with Salah sums up a damaging week for the German, who announced back in January that he would be leaving the club at the end of the season. Arne Slot is in line to replace him after the Reds agreed compensation with Feyenoord on Friday night.
Despite hopes that Klopp could depart with a second domestic title and the Europa League, his final year at the helm is set to end with a whimper following a late collapse in the Premier League.
Anfield favourite Danny Murphy, also speaking to Premier League Productions, felt that his former club were devoid of belief from the start of Saturday’s match following recent results.
He said: “I think the disappointing results of the last week or two have put them in a frame of mind. It felt before the game when we saw them walking in to the stadium, it didn’t feel they had much belief left. The performance was a little like that, struggling in the final third to have conviction. Defensively? Really poor goals to concede.”
