Jamie Carragher’s excuse for Liverpool and van Dijk’s defensive display vs Villarreal doesn’t wash

Liverpool needed to come from behind to beat Villarreal in the Champions League on Tuesday night at Anfield.

Jamie Carragher was watching Liverpool from afar, working for CBS Sports, who hold the rights for Champions League football for American viewers in the States.

Liverpool gifted Villarreal with the opening goal when van Dijk’s header went wayward and fell right into the path of goalscorer Georges Mikautadze, and that theme continued throughout the night.

According to Carragher, as he told CBS Sports, one of the reasons behind Liverpool’s abject defensive display was that ‘they weren’t ready’, and because of the type of team that was picked by Andoni Iraola, it was like a ‘domestic cup game in England.’

This is Liverpool in the Champions League; there simply can be no excuses for what unfolded against Villarreal, and in truth, the team got away with it.

Yes, van Dijk is a legend, and he isn’t the problem here, because this isn’t a case of individual issues, but the whole team without the ball.

While Carragher’s excuse for the defensive display doesn’t and shouldn’t wash with supporters, he thinks the issues stemmed right ‘through the centre of defence’, as he told CBS Sports.

“They didn’t look ready for the game,” said Carragher. “You see the mistakes Virgil van Dijk makes for the first goal. Not like him, but it probably tells you about the mindset going into the game. There were five or six changes from Liverpool.

“It almost looked like Liverpool were playing one of the cup competitions in England. But they were really poor defensively all night, especially through the centre. They just weren’t right. It wasn’t just the back four. It was right through the centre of defence. They deserved to go 2-0 up.”

One massive shining light for Liverpool was the performance of Rio Ngumoha, because he was simply outstanding.

Ngumoha supplied two assists against Villarreal and secured the Man of the Match award, with Carragher stating that he was ‘the best player on the pitch.’

There aren’t many Liverpool players who could have held their heads high when the full-time whistle blew, but Carragher was right to give his flowers to Ngumoha.

“But this lad was the best player on the pitch, Rio Ngumoha,” said Carragher. “He helped get some of the goals. Two goals, so a great performance from him.

“Goals are more important than assists. But the guy getting the assist, I think, was the standout player in the game.”