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Jordan Pickford’s entry on Virgil van Dijk went unpunished
The entry by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford that left Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk in need of knee surgery was “completely stupid,” says Reds midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum.
Van Dijk suffered an ACL injury in the challenge, which went unpunished, and will miss at least most of this season.
Wijnaldum said “none of the players slept” after what happened on Saturday.
Coach Jurgen Klopp said his feelings were “similar to those of my players.”
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Fabinho threw a cross to the far post that Van Dijk was about to try to control when Pickford flew feet first and caught the defender’s right leg in a scissor-like motion. Van Dijk was immediately in pain.
While the 29-year-old Dutch central defender was being treated, the video assistant referee (VAR) noted that he was checking a “possible penalty”. In the end, it couldn’t have been a penalty because Van Dijk was offside. Referee Michael Oliver gave Everton a free kick, Van Dijk left the pitch and the game continued.
Pickford did not face retrospective action because the Football Association determined that the incident was seen at the time after consulting with match officials, including the VAR.
At the end of the game, which ended 2-2, Toffees forward Richarlison was sent off for a high tackle to Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara.
Wijnaldum, who is also Van Dijk’s teammate in the Netherlands, said: “Of course we’re upset. The way Pickford came in was completely stupid.
“I think she didn’t want to hurt Virgil the way she hurt him.
“In my opinion, they take it too far in the games we play against them. They all want to win the derby, sometimes you go a little too far, but it was too much, not just his entry, Richarlison on Thiago was also an unpleasant one.
“Accidents can happen in soccer. You can be unlucky and injure someone, but the way they were doing it was completely unacceptable.
“It makes it more difficult because they don’t punish them, in this case Pickford.”
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‘Something happened that shouldn’t happen’
As well as being without Van Dijk and Thiago for their first Champions League game against Ajax on Wednesday (start at 20:00 BST), Liverpool have more selection problems at the rear, and defender Joel Matip is also facing missed the trip to Amsterdam.
Midfielder Fabinho should replace the central defender alongside Joe Gomez, with the young Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams included in the squad.
Speaking about Van Dijk’s injury, Klopp said at a press conference on Tuesday: “We remain sensitive to the situation, and you are not.
“The first question you ask is: ‘What are you doing in the transfer market?’ Our vice-captain and the best center-middle in the world has not played for a long time, we will see how long and we work to find solutions for now.
“A couple of days ago something happened that shouldn’t have happened in a soccer game. It didn’t happen neither for the first time nor for the last time, and I see it similar to my players.
“Both challenges were difficult to accept, let me put it that way.
“Virgil is our boy, a world-class player and we will miss him. Injuries happen in soccer, but when two players try to fight for the ball.”
Liverpool refuse to specify how long Van Dijk will be out until after his operation, which has yet to be fixed.
The Dutchman has been a key figure for the Reds since signing from Southampton for £ 75 million in January 2018.
He played every Premier League game for the club in the past two seasons, as Liverpool finished second in 2018-19 before winning their first top flight title in 30 years in 2019-20.
Klopp added: “In this game, some things happened together. Referee Michael Oliver, who is usually an excellent referee, didn’t see it. I don’t understand why he didn’t see it. VAR forgets the rules.
“It’s not that I want to punish the players, but it’s something we agree on. If you do something wrong you have to deal with the consequences.
“Only two people are dealing with it: Virgil and Thiago. And the rest go on.
“We didn’t do anything wrong in the game, nothing wrong since then, but we’re still the ones to suffer. That doesn’t feel right and it’s not easy to deal with this kind of thing.”
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Source: bbc.com
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