Roy Keane delivers damning Virgil van Dijk assessment with brutal Liverpool claim

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has come in for criticism from Roy Keane following the Reds’ 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester United on Sunday afternoon

Roy Keane has launched a damning assessment on Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk following his lacklustre performance in Sunday’s defeat against Manchester United.

Arne Slot’s team suffered their fourth consecutive loss, falling 2-1 at home to a resurgent United side. Harry Maguire netted a late winner for Ruben Amorim’s squad after Cody Gakpo had levelled the score, negating Bryan Mbeumo’s first-half opener.

In his post-match analysis, ex-United midfielder Keane singled out Van Dijk’s performance, criticising the Netherlands international and suggesting he should shoulder more responsibility for his team’s recent dip in form.

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Van Dijk was found wanting in the lead up to Mbeumo’s opening goal and struggled throughout the match, with Ibrahima Konate outshining him among Liverpool’s central defenders.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Keane said: “When you’re a centre half and you’re a big player, last year we were on about who was going to stay and he signed a big contract, then you’re giving up loads of goals. I’d be looking at him and asking ‘what are you doing’?

“Particularly as a big leader of the team. A couple of years ago we talked about United parking the bus here and we were critical. Now they’ve scored two today and two last year and you’re the centre half.

“Always start with the man in the mirror. Van Dijk, if you’re the centre half and your team are all of a sudden giving up loads of goals, and you’ve got new people coming to your club, you’ve got to have a good look at yourself and think ‘am I really helping people?'”.

Van Dijk, in his post-match interview, lamented Liverpool’s latest defeat, confessing that they failed to capitalise on their chances and were “far too rushed” when it came to scoring.

“I think we conceded a very sloppy second goal. We worked so hard to get back into the game and we created great opportunities to score the winner but if you concede a second goal like that, that is the disappointing part.

“If you look at the game as a whole, we were far too rushed. I think they were very patient they didn’t press us high but they didn’t let us on the ball. We still created many opportunities to score but the reality is that we lost,” he said.

The Reds’ loss means they remain fourth in the Premier League table with 15 points from their first eight matches. Their next challenge is a journey to Eintracht Frankfurt for a Champions League match on Wednesday.

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