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Publication date: Saturday, October 24, 2020 12:20 PM
Southampton coach Ralph Hasenhuttl thinks Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford shouldn’t be facing his team on Sunday and instead he should be serving a suspension for his “absolutely disastrous” entry on Virgil Van Dijk.
England’s number one has faced criticism for the incident during last weekend’s Merseyside derby, which left Liverpool defender Van Dijk in need of knee surgery and facing a lengthy period of rehabilitation.
The incident had been reviewed by the VAR, and the Dutch international was judged offside before the Toffees goalkeeper struck him.
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Pickford escaped any retrospective disciplinary action.
Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum, however, suggested that the goalkeeper was “stupid” and that he had challenged his fellow Dutchman without caring for the player’s well-being, which Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti has since dismissed as unfair.
Hasenhuttl feels that the fact that the VAR was able to intervene in the offside call muddied the water a bit, but there is no question that such a challenge should have resulted in a direct red card.
“I think so (Pickford should have been sent off),” said the Austrian. “I also had a discussion about this. To be honest, it was a horrible entrance.
“I see the biggest problem sometimes with this offside rule, (it is) or not.
“We have the situation more often now that the game continues even though it is offside and then some duels happen that don’t have to happen normally, this is a problem.
“But we are also happy to have the VAR because now you see, in the Europa League, there is no VAR, how many discussions there are around the referee’s decisions.
“But of course, you can’t go to a duel like that. This is an absolutely disastrous approach to be honest.
“I think for sure it can be a red card at the end … when you only see the tackle, (it was) horrible, yeah.”
Everton forward Richarlison was later sent off for a poor challenge on Thiago Alcantara, which will see the Brazilian serve a suspension.
Wijnaldum also claimed that his local rivals are going “too far” in the Merseyside derbies.
Hasenhuttl, however, believes that there is much more to Ancelotti’s side this season than just solid focus.
“If you just reduce it to physical quality, I think it doesn’t do well,” said the Southampton coach.
“They have more qualities than just physical qualities, so now they have some really good players on the team.
“I believe that all the teams in the Premier League have quality and we have to prepare for the best possible team, for our side, it means we have to look at our strengths.
“We also have some really good players and we also have a very good commitment. When you have this in combination, then you can compete with all the teams. “
Will Chelsea fall into Manchester United’s trap again at Old Trafford? And is Virgil van Dijk really as big of a loss for Liverpool as has been claimed? Winty and Mark discuss what is sure to be a great weekend.
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