‘Struggling’ – Carragher and Neville agree on Liverpool’s biggest problem player vs Man Utd | OneFootball

Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville expressed concern with Virgil van Dijk’s performance against Manchester United.

The Dutchman made an early blunder early on in Liverpool’s Premier League encounter with the Red Devils.

Following an aerial duel between the former Southampton defender and Bryan Mbeumo, the latter got on the end of a through ball inside the 18-yard box to put United ahead at Anfield.

Admittedly, Alexis Mac Allister’s evident head injury concern should have seen play paused, and the eventual goal prevented.

Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville disappointed with Virgil van Dijk

(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

It’s difficult to be too critical about Van Dijk given that the proceeding attacking phase shouldn’t have been allowed to commence in the first place.

Despite claims made on Sky Sports’ commentary, referee Michael Oliver had a more or less unobstructed line of sight to Mac Allister after the Argentine collapsed on the turf.

Still, Carragher and Neville pointed out that the left side of Liverpool’s backline has been at fault for much of the hosts’ defensive concerns on Sunday afternoon.

“More worrying is the challenge Cunha won against Van Dijk ten seconds before that,” the ex-Red spoke on Sky Sports.

“For a lot of this season, Van Dijk has had to look after and really baby Konate alongside him. It’s roles reversed so far in this game.”

Milos Kerkez, often the subject of critical discourse this term, was paired up with Virgil van Dijk in Neville’s assessment of the first half.

“Konate has been so superior. At times, he’s been Liverpool’s only defender. He’s done really well. The rest of them are struggling,” Neville added.

“Normally the right hand side of Liverpool’s defence gets punished. But today it’s the left hand side. Kerkez and Van Dijk have struggled.”

What do the stats say about Van Dijk vs Manchester United?

Intriguingly, the stats indicate that our Dutch colossus has been Liverpool’s strongest player from the opening 45 minutes of action at L4.

Fotmob handed the centre-back a score of 7.5/10 (with Ibrahima Konate ranked second on 7/10) for:

Sofascore’s evaluation mirrored Carragher and Neville’s assessment of the Reds defenders.

(Pictures courtesy of Sofascore)

Arne Slot not helping Van Dijk with Milos Kerkez decision

We mentioned before the game against United that Arne Slot could do with giving Milos Kerkez licence to roam down the left flank and impact the final third.

At the present time, the Dutch head coach is persisting with encouraging the Hungarian to tuck in and become a third centre-back.

(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

But it’s a tactical decision that does Liverpool no favours in defence and otherwise cripples a player from showcasing their creative capabilities.

It also foregoes the potential defensive benefits Kerkez might offer by applying further pressure down the left flank.

Yet again, we’re forced to sit back and witness these kinds of numbers (60 minutes into the tie via Fotmob) from a player who can do so much more on the ball:

Join our channel of readers on WhatsApp to get the day’s top stories straight to your mobile