Jamie Carragher has criticized Liverpool’s second star for taking aim at Virgil van Dijk in commentary after helping Brian Mbeumo open the scoring in Manchester United’s 2-1 win over the Reds.
At Anfield, Mbeumo scored in the first minute and Harry Maguire scored all three goals for the Red Devils with a late header after Codi Gakpo brought Arne Slott side level.
Carragher labeled Van Dijk a “baby” after Liverpool’s unusually poor performance as captain, naming one of his team-mates at least as responsible for the game’s poor start, while also praising Ruben Amorim for his brilliantly successful tactics against the reigning Premier League champions.
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Analyzing the goal on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Carragher said: “As Arne Slott mentioned, when you talk about teams playing direct football with low blocks, that’s always taken as a criticism. But Ruben Amorim got his tactics absolutely spot on in this game at Anfield. There’s no doubt about that. That’s the only way they’re going to win the game.”
“We’re going to look at goals here initially from a direct play point of view, but it’s not just about going long distance.
“Let’s remember who he actually picked. He didn’t pick (Benjamin) Sesco, he picked (Mateus) Cunha to put him under the ball.”
“And if you look at this first challenge, the really important thing here is that we have Manchester United’s back five, three centre-backs, two wing-backs, and it’s quite wide.
“But the really important thing to note is how tight these players are under the ball. So it’s important to pick up the second ball and not just follow it.”
“Ruben Amorim totally nailed his tactics in this match.” 🤝
Jamie Carragher breaks down how Man United were able to beat Liverpool’s early game on Sunday 🔎 pic.twitter.com/IsHXZcweec
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 20, 2025
“The other really important thing is that if you get a flick-on or Virgil van Dijk misses the ball, no one goes for the ball from behind.
“So, again, Cunha is probably a little bit deeper than Sesco. So the whole thing here was, ‘We might not get the first ball, but we’ll pick up the second ball.’
“And look at how narrow the five Manchester United players are here, and that’s where this goal came from.
“Harry Maguire has won again, and it’s thanks to the early placings of these players. Look at how narrow Mason Mount is, Bruno Fernandes does really well.”
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“Now, about Virgil van Dijk, myself and Gary (Neville), we have mentioned it many times in the commentary. He has to come back sooner, there is no doubt about that. But the player next to him, (Ibrahima) Konate, is a player who has never thought about this great game before and we have to do the same.”
“So when (Amad) Diallo had the ball, Konate was first of all the player closest to this ball position, so he was 27 yards away. Then you look at where Virgil van Dijk is, he’s 30 yards away from there. And you look at where Mbeumo is, he’s 31 yards away.
“Now, what I’m saying is that if I was in Virgil van Dijk or Konate’s position, he would probably beat me with the ball. But those are the two fastest centre-backs in the Premier League and they start with him too. And they should do more. They should sprint and get there before him. They should do more.”
“And we’re looking at it from a different angle here as well, maybe just emphasizing Konate a little bit more. Can he do well in that position?”
