Football
Former Chelsea superstar slams Virgil Van Dijk’s disappointing performance against Fulham during EFL Cup semi-final
Liverpool were able to win the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final against Fulham yesterday night.
Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk has come under fire from former Chelsea defender Jason Cundy following his team’s 2-1 victory against Fulham in the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final on Wednesday, January 10.
The Reds defeated Marco Silva’s team at Anfield, and now sit atop the 2023–24 Premier League standings with 45 points after 20 games. Willian opened the scoring in the first half, and the hosts responded with goals from Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo during the second half.
In contrast, Virgil Van Dijk had a difficult first half during Liverpool’s most recent match. In the 19th minute, the 32-year-old failed to guide the ball to safety, giving Willian a half-chance to score. He additionally picked up a card just a few minutes after as the Reds behind 1-0 at home.
Cundy discussed his thoughts about the Liverpool centre back’s performance in their match against Fulham when speaking on talkSPORT. He said, “He can do this… Van Dijk. Sometimes he puts in displays where you go, ‘That’s a bit rubbish’. Not only does he head the ball in a direction that you don’t want him to. Personally, I think he is overrated. I don’t think he is anywhere near the levels, consistently, of the likes of Sol Campbell, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand. I don’t think he is anywhere near that, personally.”
The defender added, “He’s had two good seasons. I know people will go on about the injury he picked up against Everton during COVID-19 [in 2020]. It was a terrible injury. There’s no doubt he is top-class. But I don’t think he’s in that all-time Premier League XI. He is nowhere near it.”
“We are not talking about bringing players” : Mauricio Pochettino
Reports earlier this month claimed that Jordan Henderson, the former Liverpool player, is a target for Chelsea to join in January. But in the current window, they could have to contend with rivals like Fulham, Crystal Palace, and Newcastle United.
Mauricio Pochettino gave the following response when questioned about Chelsea’s interest in the 33-year-old midfield player during a recent news conference (via Football365). He said, “At the moment, we are not talking about bringing players. I saw Behdad [Eghbali] here in the manager’s room with Paul [Winstanley] and Laurence [Stewart]. I think tomorrow we are going to have a chat because we will be in the training ground. We didn’t talk about names or talk about position [or] players. For now, we are focusing on players like Andrey Santos to see what we are going to do.”
