Jamie Carragher has had Virgil van Dijk worries for over a year

Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher has had Virgil van Dijk worries for over a year after calling the centre-half out as he dissected the Reds’ humiliating defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League. The defender-turned-pundit argued that the Dutchman was not at his best for the first half of last season something which ended up being crucial as they narrowly missed out on the Premier League title.

Liverpool fans could not believe their luck when goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah gave their side an early lead in Tuesday’s clash with Madrid. However, they were quickly brought back down to earth after a double from Vinicius Jr levelled the scoreline before half-time before an Eder Miltao header and Karim Benzema brace condemned the Reds in the second period.

Carragher was one of Jurgen Klopp’s side’s harshest critics after the match as he called out their ‘embarrassing’ performance. Van Dijk was mentioned by name as he suggested he would currently get into the team over the Dutch captain. The comments would later go on to be described as ‘tough-in-cheek’ and made in reference to an interview Van Dijk conducted with Gary Neville in November.

However, last night was not the first time that Carragher had expressed concern over the defender’s performances. In an interview conducted over the summer, he suggested Van Dijk had not been at his best in 2021 inadvertently costing Liverpool the title last year.

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“Everyone is angry, everyone is obviously disappointed and the way we lost, almost not giving ourselves a chance in Madrid, is tough,” he said. “It’s hard that we have almost an impossible job in Madrid.

“It is difficult, but it is the hard reality and something we have to deal with, we have to deal with as a group, as a unit. It’s not been the easiest season so far but the only way to get out of it is to stick together and that’s the message – even after now.”