Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed goal for Liverpool in their 3-0 defeat to Manchester City has been one of the main topics of conversation in and around football over the last few days.
The arguments for and against the offside call seem to be 50/50, with most people seeing both sides of the argument.
If the Reds had scored against City, the entire game could have been turned on its head, and Liverpool might have even come out on top.
Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool reacts towards Referee Chris Kavanagh after he awards a penalty to Manchester City following a foul on Jeremy Doku of Manchester City (not pictured) by Giorgi Mamardashvili of Liverpool (not pictured) during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad Stadium
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
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Unfortunately, that isn’t how things panned out with Wayne Rooney now sharing his thoughts on the disallowed goal.
Wayne Rooney thinks that Virgil van Dijk’s goal should have stood
Rooney has often been fairly critical of Liverpool, with Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah both being told that they’ve lacked leadership this term.
In the end, the former Manchester United man backtracked on his comments about the Liverpool duo and admitted that he may have been a little unfair.
Despite his lack of adoration for the Merseyside outfit, Rooney still thinks that Van Dijk’s goal against City should have stood.
“I thought it was a goal,” he said in quotes relayed by BBC Sport.
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“I get the rules, but Gianluigi Donnarumma can see it the whole way and he makes the decision to go for the ball and gets nowhere near it.
“I don’t think Robertson is standing in front of the keeper. I know he’s close to him, but I think he doesn’t impact Donnarumma.
“He sees the ball all the way, does a full dive for it and gets nowhere near it, so I thought that should have stood.
“He ducked but he’s not in the eyeline of the goalkeeper. He’s not affecting Donnarumma’s decision.
“His weight is on his right foot and then he’s tried to shift quick and dive. He hasn’t waited for Robertson to make the decision then dive afterwards.”
Virgil van Dijk must rally his troops and ensure that Liverpool get back on track
Unless Liverpool have a serious turnaround in form over the next couple of weeks, things are only going to get worse for them.
At the moment, they’re eighth in the Premier League table, which, for a team that is supposed to be competing with the very best, is far from ideal.
Players such as Salah, Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate have all failed to live up to expectations this season, which has put Liverpool in a terrible situation.
One thing that is likely to go Liverpool’s way over the next few weeks is that a lot of their opponents are in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Indeed, their clash against Sunderland on 3 December will be far from easy, but in the build-up to that game, they’re set to face Nottingham Forest, PSV, and West Ham.
If they manage to do this, their confidence levels could build up and perhaps finally get them back on track.
This is why Van Dijk needs to do his best to get Liverpool’s first-team squad back in contention for the title.