{"id":436365,"date":"2026-01-27T11:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T11:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/436365\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T11:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T11:46:09","slug":"hes-just-too-relaxed-van-dijk-is-costing-liverpool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/436365\/","title":{"rendered":"‘He’s just too relaxed’ – Van Dijk is ‘costing’ Liverpool"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mohamed<\/p>\n

[Getty Images]<\/p>\n

I find it really hard to criticise Virgil van Dijk. I think he’s the best Premier League defender ever. He’s been enormously instrumental in Liverpool winning every competition of note at least once during his stint.<\/p>\n

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But I’m finding some of his mistakes hard to take this season. Not because he isn’t allowed to make any, but because of the sloppiness with which he makes them.<\/p>\n

He’s not making them because he’s bad, or got any worse at football. He’s just too relaxed. Van Dijk plays like football is too easy for him – but that style, that nonchalant attitude, is costing us.<\/p>\n

Van Dijk is more than capable of clearing the ball that led to Bournemouth’s<\/a> opener on Saturday. Of course he is. It’s just a lack of concentration. When you’re struggling as much as Liverpool are this term, it’s entirely unhelpful.<\/p>\n

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He then played the attacker onside for Bournemouth’s second and was at the scene of the crime for the third. It was a really poor performance.<\/p>\n

Van Dijk is 34 years old. Mohamed Salah is 33. The truth is, the two players who’ve been Liverpool’s best in the past trophy-laden decade are old.<\/p>\n

Last season, it didn’t matter. They were the best defender and best attacker in the country. In 2025-26, though, they’ve been way, way off it.<\/p>\n

Are there many examples of players approaching their mid-30s re-emerging as elite stars following a slump? There sadly isn’t.<\/p>\n

Find more from Jordan Chamberlain at Empire of the Kop<\/a><\/p>\n

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