Jamie Carragher has accused Thierry Henry of disrespecting Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk by not returning his text messages.
After qualifying for the Champions League final with Liverpool last night, Van Dijk spoke to CBS Sports. When learning that Henry was in the studio covering the game, The Reds centre-back told the reporter to pass along a message to the Arsenal legend.
“Who’s in the studio there? Titi (Henry)? I text him but he didn’t text me back, you tell him now,” laughed Van Dijk.
Carragher was less than impressed with his CBS colleague, jokingly calling out Henry live on air.
“To be fair tonight’s been a bit of a lack of respect from Thierry, to Virgil Van Dijk, to CBS not wearing a tie, there’s a bit of a theme there,” said the former Reds defender. “He’s a top guy, he’s showing you that respect and you’re not getting back in touch.”
In his defence, Henry claimed that he didn’t have Virgil’s number.
Sean Dyche's First Starting XI At Burnley: Where Are They Now?
“I actually don’t have his number you know. I changed my number at the same time, I put all my numbers on my new phone, his number wasn’t there,” he said, before claiming to know the real reason Carragher was upset with him.
“He didn’t text the right number, I’ll get him. You’re actually upset because he’s texting me!”
Come on Thierry, this is the best defender on the planet we’re talking about, give him a text back!
In Liverpool’s defence
Liverpool were disastrous in the first-half last night, and Van Dijk wasn’t immune to that either.
With Jordan Henderson on the bench, the Dutchman was captain for the evening. That’s a sight that Liverpool fans have been accustomed to in recent weeks as Jurgen Klopp has managed Henderson’s minutes.
But Virgil just couldn’t seem to get The Reds up to their usual standards. Sloppiness reigned all over the pitch for Liverpool.
Van Dijk perhaps wasn’t as poor as some of his teammates. But he and Ibrahima Konate just couldn’t seem to get to grips with the movement of Boulaye Dia and Gerard Moreno up front for Villarreal.
Konate has started five of the six knockout games in the Champions League this season, and he’s largely been excellent. After last night’s showing though, it’s probable that Klopp returns to the more experienced Joel Matip to partner Van Dijk in the final.
One thing’s for certain – whoever plays against Manchester City or Real Madrid will have to defend a whole lot better than Liverpool did for large patches in Villarreal.