Richard Keys makes an absurd “selfish” jab at Virgil van Dijk, the new captain of Liverpool.

Richard Keys, a former Sky Sports analyst, has made an odd jab at Virgil van Dijk, claiming the

newly named Liverpool captain is “too quiet” and “selfish” to be a leader.

 

 

The long-serving Jordan Henderson completed a transfer to Steven Gerrard’s Al Ettifaq of the

Saudi Pro League earlier this month, prompting Liverpool to select the 32-year-old Dutch defender

as their captain. With Van Dijk’s selection, the Reds have only had three captains since 2003.

Van Dijk has previously captained Liverpool on 43 occasions since joining from Southampton in

January 2018. Despite acting as the Reds’ third-in-command in recent seasons while Henderson

and former vice-captain James Milner were still at Anfield, Van Dijk had previously been the club’s

captain.

 

Although Van Dijk has won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, Super

Cup, and Club World Cup during his time at Anfield, Keys, a pundit for Qatari TV station beIN

Sports, claims that Van Dijk is not a team player, which will ultimately cost Liverpool a chance to

win the Premier League title this season.

In his blog, Keys stated, “I don’t think Liverpool have a challenge in them either. “The rebuild was

required, but I no longer see any leaders on the team. A leader, Van Dijk is not. He is too silent and

self-centered. All that seems to matter to him is how well he performs on the field. And last season,

he didn’t perform well enough consistently. I felt he was ridiculous.

The 66-year-old predicts that this season at Anfield, the absence of Henderson and Milner, who

have been replaced as captain and vice-captain by Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold,

respectively, will be felt.

Keys continued, “They’ll miss Henderson and Milner.” “I understand that the statisticians drove the

Milner decision, but sometimes you just have to trust your instincts. Klopp is aware of Milner’s loss.

a significant loss. He tried to keep him, but he couldn’t.

On Sunday afternoon, Liverpool will open their Premier League campaign at Stamford Bridge

against Mauricio Pochettino’s revamped Chelsea team, which Keys described as a “mess”.

Chelsea is still a shambles, said Keys. Pochettino believes he is a much superior coach than the one

we saw at Spurs. He’s going to have to be, but I’m not sure what he bases that judgement on.”

 

Read More

The player who is about to overhaul Liverpool’s midfield has been discovered by Jurgen Klopp.

 

 

It was enough to even momentarily silence the fervent local Liverpool supporters’ unceasing cheers.

Alexis Mac Allister was left writhing on the ground in obvious distress after being the subject of a

powerful challenge from behind by Leicester City midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall just minutes

into Liverpool’s most recent game in Singapore’s National Stadium.

The lying Argentine was the center of attention. The relief was suddenly palpable as he slowly got to

his feet, cleaned himself off, and started working on the assignment at hand.

Of all, the Reds could ill afford another injury to their midfield. And if Leicester believed the

forceful foul would frighten Mac Allister, they quickly learned the opposite was true.

When Liverpool snatched up the World Cup winner from Brighton for a bargain £35 million,

Jurgen Klopp made him the centerpiece of his summer rebuild. Previous friendlies against

Karlsruher SC and Greuther Furth had shown hints of why.

The Reds, though, saw the most convincing proof yet of why Mac Allister can prove to be a

transformative signing for a midfield that has been begging for change here, in the oppressive heat

of the Far East.

 

The 24-year-old was a key player as Liverpool overcame a sluggish beginning to humiliate Leicester

with a declaration of attacking intent that included three goals in eight short minutes just before

halftime.

With his low center of gravity and tenacious tenacity in possession, Mac Allister already proved at

Brighton that he can hold his own in the Premier League’s rough and tumble. His toughness will be

useful in a midfield under Klopp.

The second goal was started by him maintaining possession under pressure in midfield and feeding

Diogo Jota, who then passed to Mohamed Salah, who rolled the ball into the path of young Bobby

Clark, who fired a crisp finish into the bottom corner from 16 yards. This was the best example of

how he combined that with the ability to see and then execute a pass.

Five minutes earlier, Mac Allister had also found Jota in the area; the Portuguese’s shot was only

parried by Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen, allowing Darwin Nunez to score the opening

goal.

Jota then added a third goal with a skillful header from Salah’s right-wing cross, and Ben Doak

added a fourth goal midway through the second half by nodding in at the far post from a Dominik

Szoboszlai corner. As a member of the first-half team, Mac Allister had already finished his duty

and was sitting on the bench.

It might have taken only 45 minutes. But it was enough to imply that Mac Allister will undoubtedly

start at Chelsea when the actual action starts in a fortnight. He is the midfield of Liverpool’s future.