Former Premier League goalkeeper Brad Friedel suggests Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah mentally tired
Brad Friedel, who played for Liverpool between 1997-2000, spoke to PressBoxPR (h/t The Express) and said that he worries for two of the Reds’ superstars who look “mentally exhausted”.
The pair has been largely instrumental in Liverpool’s success over the last few years. Even in the previous campaign, Mohamed Salah was Liverpool’s highest goal-scorer in all competitions and also won the Premier League Golden Boot. Virgil van Dijk was extremely crucial in the back-line in Liverpool’s successful season domestically and in Europe last year.
This season though, these two players have merely been a shadow of themselves. Salah has accumulated five goals and four assists from 12 appearances across all competitions this season. Even though these are not bad numbers by any means, one would expect a player of the Egyptian’s stature to contribute more.
Van Dijk, on the other hand, has been faulty in defence and has been guilty of not committing enough leading to multiple goals conceded this season. Jadon Sancho’s goal for Manchester United against us this season and Fulham’s penalty in the game we drew 2-2 are just two examples of it.
Although there have been certain games where he has done well, it is the standards he has set for himself that have been letting him down. Speaking of Liverpool’s shaky start to the season, former Red Friedel said that Salah and Van Dijk look “mentally tired” to him this season.
“I think two of their players look mentally tired to me, [Mohamed] Salah and [Virgil] van Dijk, which are two of their huge players. I actually don’t worry about Liverpool, I grew up as a Liverpool supporter, Jurgen Klopp and his staff are fantastic.”
Tough Times for Liverpool
Following Liverpool’s tough loss against Arsenal last weekend, the entire team including the Egyptian and the Dutchman were under scrutiny from all over the place. With a rather dicey fixture up against Rangers, the Reds would hopefully make a case for themselves and put in a strong show.
This Rangers fixture would probably be the easiest of fixtures of the upcoming ones. Manchester City and West Ham United in the league follow the visit to the Ibrox and with Erling Haaland skewing backlines all over the country, an out-of-form Liverpool will be in for their toughest challenge.
It would be extremely crucial for Salah and Van Dijk to get firing as the season is heading towards an especially critical juncture and Jurgen Klopp would need two of his best players to be at their best, eventually helping the whole team click.
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- Jurgen Klopp confirms Liverpool ace Andy Robertson will return from injury against Rangers
- Liverpool gaffer Jurgen Klopp talks about his opinion about the penalty against Arsenal
One cannot emphasise on how important this pair is for the success of Liverpool. Without them performing at their best, the Reds look completely disjointed and it is on show with the way the Reds have been playing this season.
