JURGEN KLOPP says Liverpool will wait for Virgil van Dijk like ‘a good wife when her husband is in jail’.
Reds defender Van Dijk is set to miss the entire season with a knee injury as a result of Jordan Pickford’s horror tackle in the Merseyside derby.
Virgil van Dijk will be out for many months after the injury in Saturday’s derbyCredit: AFP or licensors
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has vowed to wait for his star defenderCredit: AP:Associated Press
Boss Klopp said: “He will be out for a pretty long time.
“We are there for him, he knows that. We will wait for him like a good wife is waiting when the husband is in jail and will do all we can to make it as easy for him as possible.
“We feel for him. We know these situations are absolutely rubbish.
“But Virgil will get over it, 100 per cent.”
Police are probing vile abuse directed at Everton stars Pickford and Richarlison on social media as a result of their lunges in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Goodison Park.
England No 1 Pickford escaped a retrospective ban for his challenge that has wrecked Van Dijk’s season.
How Liverpool have fared with and without Van Dijk
Richarlison was sent off for a lunge on Thiago Alcantara which will cause the midfielder to miss Liverpool’s Champions League opener against Ajax tomorrow.
A Merseyside Police spokesperson said: “We are investigating a number of offensive tweets.
“The language used is totally unacceptable and we are taking the reports extremely seriously.”
Liverpool have received an apology from Prem refs’ chiefs over the failure to dismiss Pickford. As SunSport revealed yesterday, FA disciplinary beaks confirmed they are unable to issue any charges against the Everton man despite recognising a major blunder.
With referee Michael Oliver unsighted, VAR David Coote should have looked at the clash after confirming the correct decision to raise the offside flag against Van Dijk.
Yet he failed to recommend Oliver review the pitchside monitor, merely backing the on-field flag.
It was human error and all we can do is apologise for it.
Dermot Gallagher
Under FA disciplinary guidelines, retrospective action is now only applicable where an incident is deemed “extraordinary” or where it was “not seen” by either the match officials or the VAR.
Oliver was aware of the collision while his assistant had a clear view — and the incident was on the screen Coote studied.
It leaves Pickford in the clear, although former Prem ref Dermot Gallagher, a spokesperson for referees group PGMOL, said sorry to Liverpool.
Gallagher said: “It was human error and all we can do is apologise for it.”
How Virgil van Dijk compares to the rest of the PL’s defenders
Jurgen Klopp says he doesn’t know how serious Van Dijk’s injury is and discusses the off-side situation
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
