‘We don’t’ – Virgil van Dijk makes high defensive line admission and why it makes them look ‘vulnerable’

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Many pundits and rival supporters like to make comments about Liverpool’s high defensive line and now Virgil van Dijk has responded.

The 30-year-old was speaking ahead of the Benfica game in the Champions League and he responded to a question about the defensive line: ‘It’s been going on since I’ve been at the club. It’s not been highlighted but I think if you look back at the last couple of seasons, we’re always trying to play with a high line.

‘We don’t play an offside but obviously if you can put the player offside, it’s only an advantage.

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‘I think this season and last season, the way they started with the rule that we keep playing on and then the linesman puts the flag up, it looks a bit that we are conceding chances against us – even the other day when obviously Ali had to make the save, it looked like we are vulnerable when he’s offside.

‘I think that rule, first and foremost, has to get out of the way, but the other thing is the high line.

‘We don’t speak personally a lot about it but on the pitch you definitely have to communicate, but I’m always trying to do that’.

It seemed to be a common line used by critics of Jurgen Klopp’s side, until the offside figures were revealed and illustrated how successful we are with the current strategy in play.

As our No.4 said as well, given the new offside rules though and linesmen not putting their flags up – the common misconception of an apparent weakness has been shared.

Let everyone else think that we’re vulnerable at the back and we can be safe in the knowledge that we’ve conceded one goal in our last six games.

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