Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk wants to wait before giving his full verdict on Man City, but he was more forthcoming on the red card issued to Ryan Gravenberch
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has reacted to Sunday's game
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has reacted to Sunday's game(Image: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Virgil van Dijk believes it would be unwise for him to voice his full opinion on the Manchester City charges until the appeal has been heard and the case has come to a full conclusion.
Liverpool lost 3-0 to the Etihad side in its first match since the guilty verdict was issued during the international break, with Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki all scoring in the second half at Anfield. But Van Dijk was reluctant to go into too much detail on the bigger picture and what it might mean in terms of the Premier League and any potential punishments.
"It's still a little bit ongoing, so I don’t think it’s smart for me to comment on it right now," the Liverpool skipper told reporters.
"But when the verdict comes out, I will definitely have my opinion, and I will probably share it as well. But for now, I don’t think it’s a smart thing to do. I think everyone could hear (the cheating chants). Everyone can share their feelings, and I don’t think Anfield will be the only place where it will be the case because fans will have their feelings, but for players, I don’t think it is a good idea at this moment in time.
"I've been in Holland. I’ve been also with some Man City players, and we spoke about it, but what can you do? We have to wait and see. You want me to say some things I don’t want to say at this moment in time. I don’t think it’s very good to do that. I really enjoyed our rivalry and it was a great rivalry on the pitch. What happened off the pitch, that is for others to find a conclusion on and then lets see."
Amid the jeers for Manchester City, Liverpool struggled to find a breakthrough in the game. Missing Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo through injury, its attack was blunted — and Dominik Szoboszlai was absent from midfield too.
Liverpool ultimately fell to defeat against Manchester City
Liverpool ultimately fell to defeat against Manchester City(Image: Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
"We play for Liverpool, so we have the expectation we have to win every game," Van Dijk admitted. "It has not been spoken about to use as extra motivation in the situation, as you play a big game at home against the league leaders, and everyone was up for it.
"We struggled a little bit with some injuries at the moment and I think in the first half we showed a lot of fight and intensity — the bare minimum by the way. There was a lot of good things in the first half, but the fact is we lost it 3-0 and that hurts."
The game-changing moment, to some extent, was the red card for Ryan Gravenberch, who was dismissed in the second half. Andoni Iraola said the referee had put himself "in trouble" by issuing the first yellow card, with Gravenberch then adjudged to have stopped a promising attack with a second challenge 15 minutes later.
"I think it was an even game up until the red card," Van Dijk said. "The early goal after the red card changed the whole game — that’s just the fact. I don’t even know how the first yellow card was, but after the first minute, when (Ronald) Araujo got a yellow card for asking for a yellow card, there were so many other players from the other team asking for a red card. That’s just that, we can’t use it as an excuse. We went down to 10 men and conceded pretty quickly after that, and then it’s a very tough one."
At 35, Van Dijk remains capable of playing every game for Liverpool. During the international break, he made four appearances for the Netherlands, having decided to continue playing until the next major tournament. Asked about his consistent availability and if he might need to take a breather at some point, though, he was emphatic.
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"Do you think I want a rest? Everyone knows that everyone has to be ready, and then we know 20 minutes before we go to Anfield, we know the team," Van Dijk explained. "Obviously, it’s not a given I’m starting, but I’m doing everything in my power to be ready. I had a little knock in the end on my calf, which is pretty painful, so I’m going home to get some treatment to be ready for Wednesday.
"If I’m fit and ready to play, I want to play. But at the end of the day, it is the manager’s decision, and we need everyone. The manager decides: if I play, I play. If I don’t, I don’t. And that’s just it.
"I have to make sure, like every other player in the team, I have to be ready for the game in front of us. Of course, I’m disappointed, I don’t like losing whatsoever, especially at home, but I know in three days everyone expects us to perform again, so we have to be ready, and that’s the responsibility we have."