uk.sports.yahoo.com

Virgil van Dijk’s worst performance for Liverpool reveals a bigger problem

It will go down as one of the most bizarre penalties conceded in the Champions League this season. Virgil van Dijk, the Liverpool captain standing at 6ft 5in, had his hand in the air and swatted the ball like a slam dunk.

Van Dijk had felt an arm around him from his Netherlands centre-back partner Jerdy Schouten, but it is unthinkable for any player to stop play expecting a foul to be given, no matter how blatant.

“I think he got a little push and that is what I saw,” said Arne Slot, his manager. “It unbalanced him but I don’t think the VAR will overturn moments like that.”

Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk handles the ball before the referee awards a penalty to PSV Eindhoven

Van Dijk gave away a penalty not long after the game began - Reuters/Jason Cairnduff

That cheap penalty set PSV on their way to a famous victory, with travelling support from Eindhoven singing Always Look on The Bright Side of Life towards Liverpool as they started their celebrations. It also set the tone for Van Dijk and his miserable evening. He has not had many bad evenings during his eight years on Merseyside but this was a shocker.

He was booked early on for his foul on Ismael Saibari and his challenge on Dennis Man later was a reminder that he was flirting with a red card. To show this simply was not his night, when he got his head on the end of a free-kick, his finish struck the crossbar.

But the cold truth is that Liverpool cannot get out of their current rut without Van Dijk. While this was a game he would like to forget, he was also one of the only players to try to lift spirits when the game was slipping away from Liverpool’s grasp.

Heads were down and players were not talking to each other when Couhaib Driouech scored the third goal of the evening, but at least Van Dijk was attempting to rally the troops. He and Ryan Gravenberch were the only ones to gesture to their team-mates to keep going for the final quarter of an hour.

Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool reacts during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD5 match between Liverpool FC and PSV Eindhoven at Anfield on November 26, 2025 in Liverpool, England

Van Dijk tried to rouse Liverpool from their problems but to no avail - Getty Images/Stu Forster

Van Dijk has been Liverpool’s leader this season, often fronting up for media duties whether results are good or bad. It has not gone down well with Wayne Rooney, with the war of words between the pair continuing over the weekend when Van Dijk offered an honest assessment of the defeat to Nottingham Forest.

“We were just not good in terms of the battles, the challenges, the second-ball fight, too rushed,” said Van Dijk to Match Of The Day. Rooney suggested it was “a concern when your captain is speaking like that about the players lacking fight and not winning second balls or challenges”.

Van Dijk speaking honestly will be part of the recovery process at Anfield over the Christmas period. As Steven Gerrard said after this game, there will be soul searching at the club after this dismal run of defeats, nine in the last 12 games.

The former Liverpool captain also noted that Liverpool ended the game with Curtis Jones at right-back, Van Dijk partnering Gravenberch and Milos Kerkez at left-back. Ibrahima Konaté had been taken off after a clear error for the Driouech goal.

“The substitution of Konaté is huge and tells a story. You look at the back four you finish with – Jones, Van Dijk, Gravenberch, Kerkez – that is not a Liverpool back four and never will be,” Gerrard said on TNT Sports.

Three of those may change, but Van Dijk will still be the cornerstone of the back line if Liverpool are to turn matches around. For the fourth goal, the captain was dragged out of position as Kerkez was caught high up the pitch. It was a terrible ending to a humbling evening.

Read full news in source page