Former Liverpool defender Glen Johnson has suggested that Virgil van Dijk's teammates, rather than the Dutchman himself, could be to blame for his recent struggles.
Van Dijk has been a colossus at the back for the Reds since he arrived at Anfield in a £75million deal from Southampton back in 2018 and is a key member of a squad that has tasted both Premier League and Champions League glory in recent years.
But the 31-year-old has looked alarmingly off the pace in recent weeks. Van Dijk's collapse in form has coincided with Liverpool's lacklustre start to the season - but Johnson has leapt to the former Celtic man's defence.
And the former Anfield ace, who clocked up 200 appearances during his own six-year spell with Liverpool, believes that Van Dijk's recent struggles stem from those around him.
Joe Gomez has also been culpable for some big defensive lapses in recent weeks and has failed to make the most of his opportunity to impress in the absence of Ibrahima Konate, who is currently injured.
And Johnson also stressed that the impeccable standards that Van Dijk has set over the past four and a half years was always likely to leave him vulnerable to criticism if he tailed off in any way.
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Johnson told Genting Casino: "Van Dijk has set the bar so high that he's always going to get criticised after a few bad performances. He's certainly not hitting the heights he used to but it could be the personnel around him. He might be thinking it's all too easy and has stopped concentrating. You don't lose your quality overnight and once he gets his head back in the game, he'll be fine."
Johnson's verdict is different to that of Danny Murphy, who claimed earlier this month that Van Dijk was still being plagued by the horrific anterior cruciate ligament injury he suffered back in 2020.
The injury, which was sustained in a clash with Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, kept Van Dijk sidelined for more than nine months. And although Murphy believes that Van Dijk is back to where he was physically before the injury, he maintained that the centre-half was still struggling psychologically.
He previously told talkSPORT: "He's not up to his level. Before his injury, he was arguably looking like one of the best centre-halves we've ever seen. The injury, which is a huge one and he's come back from, although he's not had problems in missing games, I think psychologically he's not in the same place. What I mean by that is not wanting to be as physically engaged with players and tackles.
"He's playing within himself a little bit and protecting himself a little bit without knowing it. I've played with players who have had ACL injuries before and when they come back you can see them doing it.
"I think there's maybe a little bit of staying out of trouble. You could argue the way he plays he doesn't get himself in that much trouble anyway. But there is always that thing in the back of your mind when you've had a bad injury, I think."
