What Virgil van Dijk did away from TV cameras in defeat speaks volumes

Virgil van Dijk was not part of the Liverpool squad to take on Crystal Palace, but he was at Anfield to watch his team-mates be dumped out of the Carabao Cup

Virgil van Dijk may not have been part of the Liverpool matchday squad for the defeat to Crystal Palace, but that didn’t stop him from consoling Amara Nallo. The Reds youngster was sent off during the second-half of his side’s 3-0 defeat.

Ismaila Sarr’s brace put Oliver Glasner‘s team in full control at the break, with Yeremy Pino’s first goal for his side securing their passage into the quarter-finals. For Liverpool, though, Arne Slot‘s decision to make 10 changes and leave star players out of the squad backfired.

Nallo replaced Alexis Mac Allister shortly after the hour-mark with the Reds already 2-0 down at Anfield. But the centre-back was sent off just 12 minutes after coming off the bench after bringing down Palace’s Justin Devenny – as he looked to race clear on goal.

Wednesday night’s red card means the young defender has been sent off twice in just 16 minutes of professional football for Liverpool. Joining in August 2023, after coming through the West Ham academy, he was sent off four minutes into his senior debut against PSV in the Champions League back in January.

But, following his red card against the Eagles, the youngster was consoled by Van Dijk as he made his way down the tunnel. Speaking after the game, Arne Slot revealed: “I didn’t need to say that much. Because another thing which I liked – it’s not the most important thing – but Ibou [Konate] and Virgil [van Dijk] immediately went inside to talk to him.

READ MORE: Arne Slot told he should’ve copied Mikel Arteta after ‘too many Liverpool signings’READ MORE: Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner hits out at ‘disrespectful’ Liverpool comment

“So that tells me that they are great human beings in a moment like this when a young player for the second time is being sent off, maybe the first time after he played against PSV [Eindhoven], I’m not 100 per cent sure, but I think he did – that they feel how difficult that moment for him is, to go inside and be supportive for him.

“So it wasn’t needed that I took care of him. These two already took care of him.”

While former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock said live on BBC Radio 5 Live: “What a horrible feeling for the youngster, Amara Nallo. There is nothing worse than knowing you have been sent off on your debut.

“Then there is the next game, you make an error and it leads to another sending off. I have just seen Virgil van Dijk walk down the tunnel, you have to try pick the youngster up.”

On his side’s performance, Slot added: “It is always a blow to lose a game of football, especially if it leads to going out of a competition. But it is the same selection I did tonight as I did last season in rounds like this.

“There are many reasons, maybe, why we’ve lost six out of seven – and none of them are good enough to accept losing so many. I can come up with arguments or reasons, but none of them will be enough to go to that standard because at Liverpool losing six out of seven is always too much.

“If I look at our performance against Brentford, to use that as an example, two days after we played [Eintracht] Frankfurt away, I saw there a team that has maybe struggled with playing three games in seven days.

“Again, not an excuse to lose that game of football, but it is not a complete surprise to me if I see some of the struggles some players have had in pre-season and players that came from different leagues – and this is a new challenge for them to play at Premier League and Champions League level in three games in seven days.”

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