Virgil van Dijk has been singled out for intense criticism after Liverpool’s humiliating defeat against Napoli in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Jurgen Klopp’s men produced a lethargic display as they were easily swept aside 4-1 by the Serie A side.
It has already been a turbulent start to the 22/23 campaign for Liverpool as they have so far failed to replicate the football that they displayed last term during a valiant effort at chasing an unprecedented quadruple.
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However, the defeat in Naples was the worst of the lot as they looked exhausted and disinterested from the first minute to the last.
Despite poor performances from many individuals, it was Van Dijk who got slammed after his recent dip in form.
Former Chelsea defender, Jason Cundy did not hold back as he ripped into the Dutchman on talkSPORT.
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He said: “He was lauded as one of the greatest centre halves, in fact, some well known pundits said the greatest centre half the Premier League has ever seen. Poppycock.
“It is all down to longevity. You look at John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, who won multiple Premier Leagues, won Champions Leagues, FA Cups, they won the lot.
“Van Dijk is a brilliant centre half, but overrated at Liverpool. If you did a best ever eleven for Liverpool, he is not in there. Mark Lawrenson and Alan Hansen, you cannot get a better centre half pairing.”
He continued: “Van Dijk is an absolute shadow of the player he was and he is getting overlooked. It's okay to blame Trent Alexander Arnold and Joe Gomez but he is the mainstay in there, he is nowhere near it.
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“His body shape for some of the games, what about the challenge against Mitrovic for the penalty against Fulham? Mitrovic turns him, that’s not Van Dijk. Tonight, he lunges in to a challenge he doesn’t have to make.”
Cundy then added that he never saw Terry have a continued bad spell like Van Dijk.
He added: “Never saw John Terry make decisions like that or consistently have a bad run like this. Never saw it.
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“The drop off from Van Dijk being the greatest centre half the world has ever seen to now is colossus and I want Liverpool fans to see it and say it.”
A pretty damning verdict on the 31-year-old. In truth, the whole of Liverpool’s defence have been a shadow of their former selves.
They will look to reignite their season this weekend as they host Wolves at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.
Topics: Virgil Van Dijk, Liverpool, Napoli, Champions League
Marcus Chan