Andoni Iraola left the 35-year-old on the bench for the trip to Austria, pairing Ronald Araujo and Jeremy Jacquet at centre-back.
The pairing helped Liverpool race into a 4-0 lead, with Araujo heading the opener, Bradley Barcola scoring twice before half-time, and Jeremie Frimpong adding a fourth early in the second half.
At the 62-minute mark, with the game seemingly settled, Iraola brought on Van Dijk and Joe Gomez.
Within a minute, Robert Ljubičić pulled one back. Florian Flecker then scored twice in quick succession, in the 74th and 77th minutes, completing three concessions in roughly 15 minutes of the Dutchman’s presence.
Barcola completed his hat-trick and Lewis Koumas added a sixth, but the late goals have overshadowed the margin of victory.
Fan reaction has been harsh and pointed. “VVD IN 2026 😭😭😭 conceded 3 against LASK as soon as he came on,” one supporter wrote.
Another stated: “Liverpool had conceded 0 goals in 60 minutes before Virgil van Dijk came on. They conceded 3 goals in 18 minutes vs LASK after he entered the pitch.”
A third declared, “Virgil van Dijk is lowkey the problem of Liverpool. He came in and Liverpool conceded three goals.”
Further comments were equally blunt: “Virgil Van Dijk you need to bow down in shame for conceding 3 against LASK,” and “we really need a manager with balls to drop Alisson & VVD.”
One fan summarised the sequence: “Iraola paired Ronald Araujo and Jacquet today and they looked perfect until after 60 min… He decided to sub them for Gomez and VVD and they conceded 3 goals from LASK.”
The pattern has reinforced calls for continued rotation. Several outlets awarded Van Dijk marks of 4 or 5, noting his relative slowness and the loss of organisation after he entered.
With Liverpool still adjusting under Iraola and facing a demanding run of fixtures, a section of the support now argues that the long-serving captain is holding the defence back rather than leading it.
Leave a Reply