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Gini Wijnaldum admits that a “devastated” Liverpool is struggling to accept Virgil van Dijk’s injury when he criticized Everton’s conduct in the Merseyside derby.
The Dutch international also called goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s reckless challenge to his Liverpool teammate “completely stupid”.
Van Dijk needs surgery for an ACL injury after a shocking entry by Pickford in Saturday’s 2-2 draw and the setback is likely to have ended the Reds’ star’s season with the defender excluded from the team. 25 club players for the Premier League.
The Everton goalkeeper escaped punishment from the Football Association after it was decided that both referee Michael Oliver and VAR David Coote saw the incident that has nearly ended Van Dijk’s campaign.
Elsewhere in the game, Richarlison received a direct red card for another major challenge on Thiago Alcantara, forcing the Reds midfielder out of Wednesday night’s visit to Ajax in the Champions League.
Wijnaldum, generally good-natured, didn’t hold back when he criticized Everton for some of their challenges in Saturday’s Merseyside derby.
“Of course we are upset,” Wijnaldum told reporters before Wednesday night’s game in Amsterdam.
“The way Pickford accepted the challenge was completely, in my opinion, stupid.
“I think he didn’t want to hurt Virgil the way he hurt him, but the way he took the tackle, he didn’t care what happened after the tackle.
Listen to Jurgen Klopp and Gini Wijnladum’s press conferences on the Blood Red channel HERE
“I think we had a lot of fun with the games against Everton. In my opinion, they take it too far in the games we play against them.
“We know it’s a derby and everyone wants to win the derby, but they took it a bit too far.
“Richarlison’s tackle on Thiago was also a bad tackle. The way they were doing it was completely unacceptable.
“It makes it more difficult for them not to be punished.”
After seeing a specialist on Sunday, it was confirmed that £ 75m surgery would be needed from Van Dijk and Wijnaldum admitted it was a tough situation for the Liverpool team to the stomach.
He added: “We are still devastated. This was different than normal. The way it happened is really difficult for us.
“Everyone still has a bad feeling about it. When we talked to the guys about it on Saturday, none of the guys slept because of what happened to Virgil and the way it happened.
“It is very difficult to accept and difficult for the team.”
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