Micah Richards appeared to suggest that criticism of Virgil van Dijk is a little harsh following a perceived drop in standards.
The Englishman pointed to a serious injury the No.4 suffered at the hands of a grossly reckless challenge from Jordan Pickford back in the 2020/21 campaign, which left the former in need of surgery to repair his anterior cruciate ligament damage.
“His standards have dropped. When you do your cruciate it takes a while. Everyone is lumping on him saying that he’s lost a yard of pace, you’re going to lose a yard of pace when you do your cruciate,” the former Manchester City defender spoke on BBC MOTD Top 10 podcast (via The Boot Room).
Somehow, the England ‘keeper escaped the incident scot-free, despite our first-choice centre-back missing most of the season due to the damage he’d sustained during the Merseyside derby.
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We have to admit there’s still a little bit of a grudge held on our part over what was a totally senseless act from a fellow professional in the English top-flight.
That said, fortunately, the Breda-born defender appears to have gotten over the worst of the physical and mental barriers that followed his recovery and is approaching levels previously witnessed on a consistent basis in our title and Champions League-winning years.
Richards is right to point out that standards have dropped to an extent, though it’s critical such debate is contextualised around the nature of the injury he suffered three seasons ago.
#Ep94 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️