Wijnaldum unhappy with 'stupid' tackle that injured Van Dijk

Posted October 20, 2020 7:00 am

By STEVE DOUGLAS

Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk, top left, is tackled by Everton's goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, center, before leaving the match injured during the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park stadium, in Liverpool, England, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. (Peter Byrne/Pool via AP) The Associated Press

Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum criticized Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford for the 'œstupid'ť tackle that has ruled out teammate Virgil van Dijk with a long-term injury and said Tuesday the squad is still struggling to come to terms with the incident.

Van Dijk damaged cruciate ligaments in his right knee after a reckless challenge by Pickford early in the 2-2 draw between the Merseyside rivals in the Premier League on Saturday.

The Netherlands center back - widely regarded as one of the best defenders in the world - will have an operation in the coming days and is facing months on the sidelines, though Liverpool hasn't given an exact timetable on Van Dijk's absence.

Wijnaldum said Liverpool's players were 'œdevastated'ť and 'œstill have a bad feeling about it'ť three days on.

'œNone of the players slept because of what happened with Virgil and the way it happened,'ť said Wijnaldum, a teammate of Van Dijk's for club and country.

Pickford wasn't punished for the sixth-minute challenge that forced Van Dijk out of the game immediately and Wijnadlum was critical of the heavy-handed approach Everton took in Saturday's game and in previous Merseyside derbies.

'œOf course we are upset,'ť he said, speaking the day before Liverpool plays Ajax in the group stage of the Champions League. "The way Pickford went into the challenge was completely, in my opinion, stupid.

'œI believe he didn't want to injure Virgil the way he injured him, but the way he took the tackle, he didn't care about what happened. We had it a lot in the games against Everton. In my opinion, they take it way too far in the games we play against them. We know it's a derby and everyone wants to win, and sometimes you go a little bit over the top. But this was too much.'ť

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said Joel Matip was also out of the game against Ajax, leaving the team down to one senior center back - Joe Gomez.

Fabinho, a central midfielder, is likely to partner Gomez.

Klopp said his players must 'œstay calm'ť amid suggestions the absence of Van Dijk will hamper Liverpool's chances of retaining the Premier League title.

'œPeople can say what they want, it's a free world,'ť Klopp said. 'œBut three weeks ago, they said we will run away (with the Premier League). Three weeks later, we are not even in contention for anything any more.'ť

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

Liverpool's Georginio Wijnaldum gestures after Aston Villa's Jack Grealish scores his side's sixth goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Liverpool at the Villa Park stadium in Birmingham, England, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira, Pool) The Associated Press

Liverpool's manager Jurgen Klopp gives a media interview after the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park stadium, in Liverpool, England, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. (Cath Ivill/Pool via AP) The Associated Press

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