Peter Schmeichel says £220k-a-week Liverpool player is looking ‘nervous’

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Liverpool are gearing up for a new season in which they’ll hope to make amends for last season’s sub-par efforts.

The Reds failed to finish in the top four, and as such will be playing in the Europa League in the upcoming campaign.

It has been a summer of change for Liverpool, who have bid farewell to previous captain Jordan Henderson.

Virgil van Dijk has since taken the Reds armband, which was the logical choice given his quality, experience and leadership skills.

Now, Peter Schmeichel has questioned whether the 32-year-old is playing at his best, claiming he’s been looking “nervous”.

The Manchester United legend was speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live about the Reds’ relatively quiet transfer window.

Liverpool are yet to bolster their centre-back ranks, leading Schmeichel to ask: “Are you worried that you haven’t strengthened in that department?

“You have got Virgil van Dijk. He looks, again it’s pre-season games, but also based on some of his performances last season, he looks a little bit nervous and unsure about what he is supposed to do in these combinations that you could actually make in the centre of defence.”

Our view

Admittedly, Van Dijk wasn’t quite at his best last season. It was a difficult campaign for Liverpool with numerous players struggling.

In terms of his leadership, pundit Richard Keys accused the Dutchman of being “too quiet and selfish” for the role.

I can’t imagine many Liverpool fans will give a damn about what either Keys or Schmeichel – a legend of a rival club – have to say about Van Dijk though.

The £220,000-a-week star is a player who leads by example. And the Liverpool Echo noted how he was “bellowing out instructions” in the friendly against Greuther Furth.

It won’t just be Van Dijk who’ll want to prove everyone wrong. The whole of Liverpool FC will be eager to shut the doubters up over the course of the season.

Liverpool have a difficult start to the Premier League campaign, facing Chelsea away on Sunday.

A good start for the Reds will do wonders for proving people wrong and writing them off too soon.