Virgil van Dijk ‘washed’ as strange moment leads to Bournemouth goal

Virgil van Dijk raised plenty of eyebrows with a surprisingly shoddy bit of defending in the build-up to Bournemouth’s opening goal against Liverpool on Saturday afternoon. The towering Dutchman was selected to start alongside Ibrahima Konate at the back for the Reds but was unable to prevent his side from going behind in the first half, with Philip Billing firing home from close range to give Bournemouth an early lead.

Van Dijk initially looked set to deal with Cherries winger Dango Ouattara as he attempted to burst away down the right-hand side of the pitch but seemed to get caught off-balance as the latter successfully dribbled past before finding Billing with a cross into the box. The Liverpool man appeared to give up the chase when he was beaten one-on-one and did not bother to try and prevent Ouattara’s delivery, which left many fans scratching their heads on social media given his reputation as one of the Premier League’s finest central defenders.

Jermaine Jenas expressed his confusion while running the rule over the incident in his role as a co-commentator on BT Sport, saying: “The whole thing was strange, there was a time where Van Dijk would never have been done like that. He just looked lethargic.”

Plenty of Twitter users also chimed in to offer their thoughts on the strange moment that saw Van Dijk almost give up on the idea of stopping Ouattara’s cross, with @HeritageCFC tweeting: “Van Dijk is so washed man. Thiago Silva is so clear.”

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@StretfordPaddck added: “They spent all week mocking [Lisandro] Martinez only for Van Dijk to get destroyed by a Bournemouth winger,” while @GraceOnFootball said: “Ouattara sprinting past Van Dijk like that feels like the kind of thing you never ever saw a few years ago.”

The Reds defender was also criticised by some of the club’s own fans, with @SamueILFC posting: “Van Dijk needs to focus on his own errors than shouting at others because he’s been our worst player.”

@ShaunlfcT was even more scathing in his assessment of Van Dijk’s first-half performance, saying: “Get me [Josko] Gvardiol. Van Dijk thinks he’s too good to actually try, it’s p****** me off. Trent [Alexander-Arnold] does the same. They play like stubborn children sometimes.”

It remains to be seen whether Van Dijk will be able to return to his form of old over the coming weeks and months, with the Dutchman needing to be at his very best to help Liverpool stand the greatest chance of securing a top-four finish in the Premier League this season. The Reds are currently three points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham as things stand but still have plenty of work to do in order to surpass their north London rivals and ensure a spot in next season’s Champions League before the current campaign draws to a close.

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