Virgil van Dijk couldn’t hide his disgust at the positioning of Liverpool teammate Fabinho during a training session this week.
As seen in LFCTV’s Inside training video, some of the squad were partaking in a rondo exercise, with the Brazilian international in the middle.
Instead of picking up space, the 28-year-old defensive midfielder decided to mark fellow Brazil international Roberto Firmino.
This removed the option of a pass, much to the annoyance of Van Dijk. The imposing centre-half then asked Fabinho (as quoted by Rousing the Kop):
“Fabio, why are you standing there brother?”
In response to which, the defensive-midfielder laughed and then replied:
“I’m with Bobby! He could play with me.”
Although the telling-off was clearly a light-hearted moment, you can tell that the Dutch defender was genuinely irked by the poor Rondo. Fabinho has put in two questionable performances so far this season, though he does appear to be fully fit.
Liverpool are yet to register their first victory of the Premier League season following disappointing draws against Fulham and Crystal Palace. They’ll be hoping to kickstart their campaign on Monday as they travel to bottom-placed club Manchester United.
Virgil van Dijk admits Liverpool’s clash with Manchester United has taken on extra importance
With both sides still searching for their first victory of the campaign, the Red Devils will be hoping to avenge last season’s aggregate defeat of 9-0 to their great rivals.
The 31-year-old defender was asked how important Monday night’s encounter will be, to which he replied (as quoted by The Mirror):
“It’s massive but it’s not about making a statement, we want to win and do everything that’s possible to win there. This year, they’ve had a difficult start and we’ve not had the best start that we wanted either, so it will be interesting.
“Obviously they’re not in the best situation confidence-wise probably, but it’s the perfect game to turn it around for them. But we’re looking at ourselves and we want to make sure we’re ready for it and we are going to work hard this week again.”
Liverpool have got several first-team players out injured, which has no doubt dented Jurgen Klopp’s team and the way they play. On his team’s ever-growing injury list, Van Dijk stated:
“We have to deal with it, it’s part of football, unfortunately. It’s a big game, a game on its own. We are all looking forward to that. Obviously, we are disappointed but we’ll prepare well and get a good performance.”