Virgil van Dijk is likely to miss the majority of the 2020/21 season after sustaining a serious knee injury against Everton on Saturday.Liverpool have confirmed that the Dutch defender will require surgery and they are currently unable to provide a date for his return to action.Fans of the club are understandably frustrated, with a lot of hate being aimed at Jordon Pickford, the Everton goalkeeper's reckless challenge in the box the cause of Van Dijk's injury.It was a tackle that merited a red card, but VAR bizarrely didn't intervene to send the England 'keeper for an early bath at Goodison Park.Pickford's actions are hard to defend, however, it's highly unlikely that the former Sunderland man was hell bent on injuring Van Dijk.
That's a point Jamie Carragher raised today live on Sky Sports after he was asked to give his expert opinion on the incident.The Liverpool legend said: “Of course, it should have been a red card for Jordan Pickford, it was a terrible tackle.“There will be a lot of frustration in the Liverpool camp, Liverpool supporters, maybe from neutrals wanting Jordan Pickford banned.“I am going to defend Jordan Pickford on that. Yeah, it was a terrible tackle. I’ve had my leg broken, I nearly broke Nani’s leg. These things happen, unfortunately in football, I don’t think anyone goes out deliberately to hurt someone.
“I believe 99 per cent of professional footballers will not go and hurt someone.
“Jordan Pickford is all over the place with his game at the moment, he comes out, makes a crazy decision as he has been doing over the last 12 months, and very, very unfortunately one of the top players in the Premier League is in a bad way.
“I really hope and I really believe Jordan Pickford will not be in a good place tonight.”
It's certainly a point that needed making. While Pickford deserves criticism for his reckless decision, there's not a chance on Earth that he sought to seriously injure Van Dijk.
The Everton 'keeper should rightly hang his head in shame, because his tackle has robbed a fellow professional of priceless playing time.
However, this isn't the first time an incident such as this has occurred on a football pitch, nor will it be the last, so the best course of action for both sides is to simply move on.