Van Dijk
Van Dijk unhappy with teammates after Liverpool drew 2-2 with Man United
With just over 10 minutes remaining in full time, cameras captured Van Dijk shouting in the direction of Alexander-Arnold before whipping his head around in disgust.
Moments prior, Alejandro Garnacho’s low cross into the middle found the foot of Amad Diallo, whose first-time shot evened the score at two apiece in the 80th minute.
At another point in the match, Van Dijk once again became enraged with Alexander-Arnold after the English international took his time on a throw-in, according to Liverpool.com
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live on the heels of the match, Van Dijk conceded that The Reds have much to improve on – but the star defender asserted that he was content with Sunday’s outcome. “It could have been a lot worse if we are absolutely honest with ourselves,” he began. “They had a big chance in the end that could have been a lot worse than where we are now. I’m definitely disappointed with dropping points at home but it is what is and we have to move on and we will.
“We found the 2-1 and then it is about trying to manage the game and keep the ball for longer than three and four passes. We lost the ball too easily at times and then we were more open than we should have been. We’re not perfect, we’re still learning and we have to learn from this as well.”
Van Dijk’s series of fiery outbursts were seemingly warranted, given the fact that Alexander-Arnold struggled mightily during the match. Throughout the evening, United capitalized on the gaping space left behind the 26-year-old – routinely sending attacks down his side of the pitch.
Upon being substituted in the 86th minute for Conor Bradley, Alexander-Arnold finished the match without winning a single duel. His replacement, meanwhile, accomplished the feat less than one minute after trotting onto the field.
Alexander-Arnold’s poor performance comes at an inopportune time as transfer rumors continue to swirl around his head. The Liverpool right-back’s name has repeatedly come up as a transfer target for Real Madrid as of late, with The Reds shooting down a January bid earlier in the week.
According to reports, Los Blancos’ £20m ($25m) offer for Alexander-Arnold was rejected by Liverpool, which has expressed little interest in shipping him off midseason.