Tony Cascarino believes Jordan Pickford’s tackle on Virgil van Dijk in Saturday’s Merseyside derby was as bad as Roy Keane’s challenge to Alf-Inge Haaland.
Pickford avoided a red card for his early clash with Liverpool defender Van Dijk, with the PGMOL arbitration board later explaining that it was subjectively decided that the Everton keeper tried to play the ball.
But he flew high and chiseled his legs on Van Dijk, who collapsed to the ground and can now miss for up to EIGHT months with an ACL injury.
This would mean Van Dijk would miss the rest of the 2020/21 season, and although Liverpool have not confirmed the extent of injury responsible, Jurgen Klopp admitted his fears after the game.
“Virgil has played I don’t know how many games in a row, he’s playing with pain, but he couldn’t continue,” Klopp said. “It’s not good.”
Pickford has been widely criticized since the game, while many pundits believe it was the wrong decision to let him stay on the pitch after throwing such a bad challenge.
And talkSPORT’s own Cascarino – the former Chelsea and Republic of Ireland forward – believes Pickford’s tackle was as bad as Keane’s on Haaland in 2001.
This Manchester derby challenge is widely regarded as the worst tackle ever in the Premier League, with Keane later admitting it was an act of revenge against Haaland for an incident between the pair a few years earlier.
But that tackle now joins Keane on Haaland as one of the most gruesome in English football, Casc claims.
Speaking at Sunday’s weekend sports breakfast, Casc said, “The challenge… just, wow! We give yellow cards so easily and so quickly for minor incidents and then you see a tackle that’s as bad as the one Roy Keane made on Alf-Inge Haaland.
“It was just awful!
“We’re talking about dangerous tackles, two feet and rushing and being reckless – Jordan Pickford was just as bad as he gets.
“I don’t think you can ever say it’s intentional – only the player can answer it – but if you want to throw yourself in, throw yourself at someone out of control…”
“When I saw him I was like ‘wow!’