Virgil van Dijk denied being arrogant in criticizing Manchester United’s defensive approach at Anfield in Sunday’s goalless draw.
Roy Keane responded to the Liverpool captain’s claim that only one team played to win. Keane said the statements were arrogant and disrespectful, adding,
“He needs a reminder himself; he’s playing for a club that have won the title once in 30-odd years.”
Van Dijk said his statements were honest but not arrogant on a difficult afternoon when Liverpool had 34 shots but failed to score for the first time since April.
“I like Roy Keane, if he said that, it’s fine,” Van Dijk remarked. He is Man United, so I understand he may react that way, but I meant what I said without arrogance.
Everyone who watched the game probably agreed. We proceed. We had the chance, but we couldn’t score.
Jürgen Klopp’s team ended a club record-tying 34 matches by making 34 shots, their most since 2003–04. It was their first scoreless game since April.
In the league, Luis Díaz has scored only once since mid-August, Mohamed Salah has scored once in five games, Darwin Núñez has not scored in 10 games, and Cody Gakpo has only scored twice in September.
Van Dijk thinks the players might have gone far in their 7-0 victory at Anfield in March over their bitter rivals.
“Maybe [we were] trying to force it a little bit at times and we could have made a better decision but it was hard to break the low block down,” he said.
“You push and push and try to do everything you can, but we couldn’t make the proper decision to score a goal that day. We sometimes tried too hard to find a solution that wasn’t there, but that’s football.”
Liverpool must move on from the unfortunate setback that cost them top spot as West Ham travel midweek for the Carabao Cup quarterfinals, which they won in 2022.
“We move on and have to learn from a lot of moments – and we will – and focus on Wednesday,” said Van Dijk. “Go for it.
The first trophy is within grasp, and West Ham is in fantastic form with good players, so it will be a challenging game.
