Perry Groves is convinced Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford intended to hurt Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk in last weekend’s fiery Merseyside derby.
And that’s because the former Arsenal man did precisely the same thing on an ex-Tottenham player during his career.
Van Dijk faces missing the entire season for the Reds with a major knee injury following a shocking challenge from Pickford in the 2-2 draw at Goodison Park.
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The England No.1 has been the target of a barrage of abuse since the game, with even Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum saying his tackle was ‘completely stupid’.
That led to Toffees manager Carlo Ancelotti hitting back at the abuse and insisting Pickford ‘did not mean to hurt’ Van Dijk and is ‘really sad’ about the Dutchman’s injury.
But former Arsenal winger Groves isn’t buying it, and believes the keeper went for the player first.
Speaking to talkSPORT host Jim White, he said: “I don’t agree with what Ancelotti said, that it was a legitimate attempt to play the ball. It wasn’t.
“If you look at Virgil van Dijk, players know whether you’ve had a legitimate attempt to play the ball or you’ve gone for the player first.
“That’s why Van Dijk brushed Pickford away, we saw that, he brushed him away and went, ‘no, get out of it’, because you know yourself.
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“And if you’re going for the player, then the consequences are that you’re going to injure the player.
“I think Pickford went for the player first and then the ball was in the periphery. He’s come out feet first, he’s lost sight of the ball, he’s panicked and thought, ‘I’m going to go for the player first and if the ball is in the vicinity, it’s a bonus’.
“It’s the same with Richarlison on Thiago – he wasn’t going for the ball, he was going for the man.”
You see, Groves speaks from experience, as he admitted he deliberately went out to hurt former Tottenham captain Graham Roberts during a game in his playing days.
Groves’ dreadful, and apparently pre-meditated, tackle – which you can watch below, apologies for the poor quality! – resulted in the Arsenal man getting a yellow card and then-Chelsea player Roberts being stretchered off the pitch.
The two are friends now, and have even appeared in ‘An Audience with…’ events together.
But the talkSPORT pundit says he doesn’t regret his actions at all. In fact, he claims Roberts deserved it.
Groves explained: “I’ve heard ex-players say, ‘no one ever deliberately goes out to hurt an opponent’, but players have!
“In my football career I’ve been deliberately hurt by opponents, and I have deliberately hurt opponents.
“Myself and Graham Roberts are mates now, we’re really good mates, but playing against him…
“He broke my nose when I just got back in the Arsenal team and he was playing for Chelsea at the time. The ball was at my feet and he breaks my nose!
“I know full well that he’s meant to do that, he hasn’t gone for the ball he’s gone to try and intimidate me, which happened back in those days.
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“So I had five minutes to think about it and I thought, ‘I’m waiting to bide by time and I’m going to go for him. I’m going to try and hurt him, because he did it to me’.
“I actually did it, and luckily enough I didn’t get send off, all I got was a booking. I was worried Robbo was going to get up, because it would have been the longest 70 minutes of my life afterwards.
“But Robbo had done that to players in the past. I didn’t even apologise, because how hypocritical would that have been?
“I regret the severity of the injury, but my argument would be if he hadn’t have ‘done me’ first when he wasn’t bothered about the ball and he went for me…
“You reap what you sow.”
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