Virgil van Dijk's attitude has been slammed by Dutch legend Wim Kieft, who believes the Liverpool star has become 'lazy and nonchalant'.
The Holland centre-back has enjoyed a meteoric rise since making the move from Southampton to Liverpool in 2018 and finished second in last year's Ballon d'Or rankings.
But he was blasted as 'arrogant' by Jamie Carragher during their opening day victory over Leeds earlier this month, and Euro 1988 winner Kieft has urged the 29-year-old to stay grounded.
'He is not sharp, he behaves with the Oranje and Liverpool like the finished star, the great coaching leader, who shows a little too much that he does not like his fellow players', he told De Telegraaf.
'At the same time, he plays lazy and nonchalant himself. He makes mistakes and often runs away from defensive handiwork in matches. With his status, he should be at the forefront of the battle.
'It took Van Dijk a long time to get to the top international level. He has been there for about two seasons now, but it is important that Van Dijk remains very critical of himself. His environment also plays an important role in this.
'It's okay if his trainers shake him up a lot.'
Van Dijk helped Liverpool keep a clean sheet in their 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, but just a week before was punished for a loose touch on the edge of the penalty area that allowed Patrick Bamford capitalised to score in a thrilling game against Leeds.
Carragher, on co-commentary duties for Sky Sports, didn't hold back when lashing out at the towering Dutchman, and Graeme Souness echoed his comments, saying: 'Van Dijk has had an absolute stinker'.
elmoney
584
That is what happens when you start comparing player on his 2 season performance to legends like Ramos
wuseostyz
518
His lazy but better than you in ur playing days am not a Liverpool fan, but let the truth be told Van Dijk is one of the best defenders in our time..........
dreamlig
487
Soon he will join this guy
bewabckpyz
257
as a Liverpool , to be honest , Van dyke needs a matured,and experience CB to partner him. Joe Gomez is the reason VVD makes those mistakes at times , he tries to cover the lapses of Gomez most of the times. guys, did you observe something in Chelsea Vs Liverpool match? Werner changed from where Fabimho is to Van dyke,but he couldn't succeed. van dyk had not much to do because Fabimho was excellent in the match , therefore it takes two to be a perfect and good CB. Varane is a good and experienced CB ,that's why Ramos functions well.
LFC_4ever_YNWA
8
Someone who won 4 UCLs in 5 years
real Madrid fans are delusional. Real Madrid won Champions League because of Ronaldo. Since he left you didn't even qualify for semis. where was Ramos when you were beaten by Azax and City, so called best defender in the world.lol