Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has spoken out about THAT Jordan Pickford tackle on Virgil Van Dijk during a sit-down with Jamie Redknapp for the Daily Mail.
In what has been one of the most controversial Premier League moments in recent memory, Pickford recklessly flung himself into Van Dijk’s leg, leaving him with an anterior cruciate ligament rupture, but faced no punishment.
The England number one’s actions were not retrospectively punished by VAR after Van Dijk was adjudged to be offside in the build-up to the incident, despite his challenge on the Dutchman being a horror one.
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With Van Dijk, arguably the best centre-back on the planet, now out for the bulk of what remains of the season, Klopp has provided insight into how he views the incident that led to his injury.
While speaking to Jamie Redknapp for the Daily Mail, Klopp is quoted saying:
“With the Virgil van Dijk situation, it was not because of the intensity of the game. It was because of a very strange decision by one person (Jordan Pickford) which made it hard to deal with.”
It does seem incredible that Pickford could do something so dangerous on a football field and it go unpunished, but he was, and it was to the detriment of both Van Dijk and Liverpool as a whole.
Klopp will no doubt have been left reeling, even still, by the incident. We can only hope that Van Dijk makes a full recovery and we can leave this horrible incident in the past.