Virgil Van Dijk was dismissed from the field of play at St James’ Park after his tackle on Alexander Isak but it seems now that his actions after the dismissal will land him in more trouble than the foul itself.
As reported by the Official spokesperson of The Football Association: ‘Virgil Van Dijk has been charged with a breach of FA Rule E3.1 following Liverpool’s Premier League game against Newcastle United on Sunday, 27 August.
‘It’s alleged that the defender acted in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words towards a match official after being sent off in the 29th minute.
Virgil Van Dijk has until Friday, 1 September to respond to this charge’.
It can be somewhat understandable that our No.4 may have thought at the time that he did win the ball and not kick the on-running forward but replays showed that he certainly got the man first.
What followed was a frustrated outburst from our captain and it seems clear that he overstepped the line with whatever was said towards John Brooks at the time.
The frustrating consequences of all this are that the official on the pitch made several mistakes in the game and that will go unpunished.
As well as this though, the Dutchman would have only been handed a one-game ban for his tackle but his ‘improper manner and/or use of abusive and/or insulting words’ look likely to increase this ban.
When we have Ibou Konate injured, Joel Matip seemingly unable to play a full 90 minutes, and an inexperienced Jarell Quansah, this is an update that is far from what we needed and may prompt a dip into the market.
You can view the full statement about Van Dijk via @FAspokesperson on X:
— FA Spokesperson (@FAspokesperson) August 29, 2023
