Wayne Rooney and Virgil van Dijk have been embroiled in a war of words during Liverpool’s eventful season, but the Reds captain has responded to the criticism
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk believes it is fair to criticize his team after their underwhelming results, but he also believes some of the criticism has gone too far. Former Manchester United star Wayne Rooney has been one of the Reds’ most vocal former players during their troubles, with the pair having an awkward meeting during Amazon Prime’s post-match coverage following Liverpool’s win over Real Madrid.
Rooney and Van Dijk have been embroiled in a war of words in recent weeks, with Rooney commenting on the Dutch international on a podcast. He said he had “total respect” for Van Dijk, despite Van Dijk hitting back at his comments about his leadership.
Most notably, Rooney’s comments about Van Dijk and teammate Mohamed Salah not being at the same level since signing a contract extension last season have drawn attention. The Liverpool captain spoke out again on Tuesday, taking aim at allegations of “lazy criticism” from former players following Saturday’s win over Aston Villa.
“If you watch the game, I definitely take responsibility,” Van Dijk said. “I think the comment was that he signed a new contract and that was it and they just left it alone. I think that was a little bit…”
“I want to perform for the team and for the club, for everyone who supports us through hard times and hard times. And when we go through difficult times as a team, when we lose games, of course we were lucky that it didn’t happen more than once, but it hurt a lot for me. And I want to turn this around. And I also see the quality that we have because I see us working every day.”
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Van Dijk claimed he was not affected too much by the criticism leveled at him, but suggested that other members of the team may have reacted differently. “You’re dealing with…a team of 25 players, a lot of young players, some older players like myself, and everyone has a different life,” he said. “So, personally, I can say I haven’t been affected, but obviously as captain I’m dealing with players who could be affected.”
Asked whether the criticism this season had been fair, he added: “Of course, as a Liverpool player, if you lose four or five games in a row, that’s a fair criticism. In that sense it’s perfectly normal. But at that point, sometimes I think it’s gone too far.”
“It’s a world we live in where there are so many platforms and so many people can speak out and it’s going to be picked up and it’s going to get even bigger… But I think it’s good to put a lot of things into perspective, especially for former players who played at the highest level and played at the top and also dealt with tough moments.”
Liverpool moved into third place in the Premier League with victory over Aston Villa at the weekend, followed by a 1-0 win against Real Madrid, taking them to nine points from four games in Europe. Alexis Mac Allister’s goal was enough for the win, and Madrid keeper Thibaut Courtois also helped keep the score in check.
Arne Slott’s side’s next match will be against Manchester City in the Premier League, with a win taking Liverpool into second place going into the November international break. Van Dijk said: “We all know how football works. It can change overnight, but right now we are focused on recovery.”
“It may sound boring, but that’s the reality. Tomorrow we will try to recover and try again. And tonight we will be fully focused on a tough game against a striker (Erling Haaland) who is in great form as well as (Kylian Mbappé).”
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