Troy Deeney slams Virgil van Dijk after what he did in Liverpool v Bournemouth
Troy Deeney has accused Virgil van Dijk of prioritising his needs over Liverpool in the 3-0 win against Bournemouth on 21 September.
The Reds ran out comfortable winners at Anfield courtesy of a brace from Luis Diaz in the first half and a goal from Darwin Nunez in the second half to cap off a resounding performance.
Bournemouth came close to pulling a goal back in the dying embers and Deeney, in his live commentary of the match for talkSPORT [21 September, 4:42pm], slammed van Dijk for what he did after Caoimhin Kelleher denied the visitors.
He said: “They’re playing like they don’t want to get injured, they’re walking, Virgil van Dijk literally has the ball in the middle of the pitch now and he’s walking with it.
“Three, four, five, six touches just waiting for people to come near him because he just wants to get through this with no injuries and a clean sheet.”
Virgil van Dijk fine to take his time for Liverpool
With the Reds leading by three goals at Anfield and entering the final minutes, there is absolutely nothing wrong with van Dijk maintaining possession and seeing out the result.
While a late Bournemouth goal would have ignited the nerves, especially considering what they did to Everton a few weeks ago, the tie was all but sealed.
Diaz and Nunez made well sure of the result whereas there are still concerns surrounding Dominik Szoboszlai, who was hooked midway through the second half with plenty of takeaways for Slot.
Liverpool will navigate a hectic fixture schedule in the coming weeks with the return of Champions League football and the defence of the Carabao Cup next up against West Ham United on Wednesday [25 September].
If there was ever a moment in a football match to take the foot off the pedal, it was leading by three goals against Bournemouth at Anfield.
Slot will need every player fit and available to compete on all fronts this season and, if Bournemouth scoring a consolation goal would have guaranteed the players left the pitch in perfect condition, there is not one Liverpool fan that would say no to that deal.
Regardless, like always, Deeney’s hard man mantra mattered little on the day as the Reds overcame the disappointment of the loss to Nottingham Forest last weekend and one eye will be on the Etihad tomorrow as Manchester City hosts Arsenal in a match that could have massive implications on the Premier League title race.
In other Liverpool news, here is how the Reds rated v Bournemouth.
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