Liverpool’s Van Dijk shares his thoughts on youngster decision to take England’s penalty at Euro 2020

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has shared his thoughts on Gareth Southgate’s decision to put Bukayo Saka on the spot during England’s loss to Italy at Euro 2020.

Bukayo Saka failed to convert the decisive penalty kick during the final on Sunday just minutes after Jadon Sancho and Marcos Rashford have also missed their penalty.

With Bukayo Saka heartbroken after the penalty, some pundits have been sceptical of Southgate’s decision to put the youngster on the spot.

Some fans claim the England tactician is wrong to have given Saka such responsibility despite having the likes of Sterling and Jack Grealish in the team.

However, Virgil Van Dijk, while reacting to the penalty drama, insisted that Southgate is wrong to have put Bukayo Saka on a high-pressure penalty.

Though Liverpool didn’t tweet about the game, he did favourite two tweets to make his feelings known.

Van Dijk liked one defence of Saka by rapper and actor ‘Big Shaq’ who asked why Southgate would you put all that pressure on a young man like Saka.

The second was by former Crystal Palace midfielder Joe Ledley, who tweeted that his team made the final he wouldn’t let a young kid take a penalty before him.

He added that the experienced players needed to take responsibility.