“Van Dijk needs help” - Micah Richards names Liverpool star who must ‘bail out’ Reds captain from awful run of form 

Micah Richards has shared his thoughts on Liverpool’s current struggles, suggesting that captain Virgil van Dijk needs his defensive partner Ibrahima Konate to step up and ‘bail him out,’ as the Dutchman endures one of his poorest runs of form in a Reds shirt.

After winning the Premier League title last season, followed by a summer of recruitments, few expected Liverpool to be going through a rough patch at this stage. The Merseysiders started the season strongly, sitting atop the Premier League table with a five-point gap ahead of then-second-placed Arsenal after Gameweek Five.

However, things have taken a twist in the tale for the reigning champions over the past couple of weeks. Not only are they now sitting outside the top four in the Premier League table, but they have also equaled an unwanted record of losing four consecutive league games, with a 3-2 loss to Brentford being their most recent setback.

In a recent episode on The Rest is Football podcast, Gary Lineker threw a question to the panel about Liverpool’s current form, prompting Alan Shearer recalling how many had named the Merseysiders as the ‘team to beat.’

Continuing, Shearer said:

“But they are so bad all over the pitch. And I mean, say what you want about them in midfield — the lack of protection — or up front, the lack of connection between their signings. But defensively, oh my word. I mean, Van Dijk and Konate. The two fullbacks have had a lot of stick and a lot of criticism, and I understand that, and I get that. But the two centre-backs? They are all over the place. They’ve been terrible. And they were at Brentford — they were awful, both of them, I mean, Van Dijk and Konate, weren’t they?”

Micah Richards agreed with Shearer’s ‘awful’ comments before suggesting that Van Dijk needs Konate’s help.

“Yeah, they were [awful]," Richards remarked. And I think what we’re seeing now is Van Dijk needs help. How many times in previous seasons has Van Dijk bailed them out? You look at partnerships and we’ve always talked about Van Dijk and how good he is. He needs Konate to bail him out at the moment, and that’s not happening. So you can’t have two centre halves not playing well at the same time.”

“It’s a midfield area” – Micah Richards on why Liverpool duo are struggling this season

After Micah Richards shared his thoughts on what needs to be done to compensate for Van Dijk’s dip in form, Gary Lineker asked the former Manchester City defender why the Reds skipper and Konate are both struggling, noting that they were impressive last season.

Richards stated that the pair are showing signs of frailty because of a lack of support from the midfield, saying:

“If you look at the tactical view and how he sort of brushed over it there when he made his point, it’s a midfield area. Mac Allister was protection for them. Gravenberch was protection and Szoboszlai had legs last season. Now, it’s completely different. They’re trying to go with a Curtis Jones, very good player, but he’s not got the defensive qualities of other midfielders.

“Wirtz [Florian] as well, we know he is going to become a very good player. But if you’re a midfielder and playing up against Wirtz, you’re worried about what he can do on the ball. But off the ball, he is small, petite, and not very strong. He’s come from a different league. You’re going to expose that and that’s what teams are doing now. It’s energy in midfield why Liverpool were so consistent.”

To date, Van Dijk and Konate have spent over four seasons together at Liverpool and have featured alongside each other 117 times.