John Heitinga caught on camera mocking Everton as Liverpool coach shows true colors

Former Everton star John Heitinga’s recent jab at his old club likely won’t sit well with Toffees fans.

On the heels of the September international break, Liverpool kicked off preparation for Saturday's clash with Nottingham Forest . It didn’t take long for the jokes to start flying around AXA Training Centre.

In one clip circulating on social media, Heitinga - who actively serves as a Liverpool assistant first-team coach - can be heard shouting “it’s like Everton’s defense” while pointing towards a mannequin. The unsubtle dig produced a dry chuckle from several nearby trainers before Virgil van Dijk received a pass and drilled his shot off the bar.

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Reds fans online promptly took to social media to share their thoughts on Heitinga’s remark. “Former Everton player John Heitinga casually taking the ---- out of Everton in today’s Inside Training,” one X user wrote alongside a crying laughing emoji, with another adding: “Johnny Heitinga's got jokes. Keep up the hard work in training!”

Everton supporters, however, will surely find less enjoyment from Heitinga’s shot at his former club. The 40-year-old spent five years at the club from 2009 to 2014 and appeared in 140 matches, quickly becoming a fan favorite at Goodison Park.

Back in December of 2016, Heitinga appeared to preach his continued loyalty to the Toffees. Taking to social media in the leadup to a Premier league faceoff between Liverpool and Everton, he wrote: “Happy to support Everton tonight in the Merseyside derby. Game of the year! Once a Blue, always a Blue.”

Yet some fans of his longtime club accused Heitinga of going back on his word and switching sides by taking on a position at Anfield. Prior to joining Arne Slot’s staff, the Dutchman served on the West Ham coaching staff under David Moyes.

“Once a blue always a blue yeah?” one critic wrote on X.. “It is what it is… until it isn’t,” another said.

In all fairness to Heitinga, his bleak assessment of Everton’s defense was quite accurate. Through three Premier League matches, the Toffees sit 20th in the standings and boast a meagre -8 goal difference.

Everton’s struggles on defense were put on full display in a soul-crushing loss to Bournemouth last month. Sean Dyche’s side led 2-0 in the 87th minute thanks to goals from Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but squandered the late lead to fall 3-2 to the Cherries at Goodison Park.

Dyche conceded after that he could sense the “most frustrating” defeat was on the horizon after his club reacted poorly to Bournemouth’s first goal. “For whatever reason, they scored a goal and we were just looking at each other,” he said.

“Everyone was staring at each other and going: ‘Who is going to do that? Who's going to win a challenge, who's going to win that race, who's going to win that header, and waiting for someone else to do it. And you can't do that.”