Wayne Rooney and Virgil van Dijk have been embroiled in a war of words during Liverpool's up-and-down season and the Reds captain has now responded to criticism
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk believes it's fair to criticise his team after underwhelming results but believes some of the criticism may have gone too far. Former Manchester United star Wayne Rooney has been among the more vocal ex-players during the Reds' difficult run and the pair had an awkward meeting during Amazon Prime's post-match coverage after Liverpool's win over Real Madrid.
Rooney and Van Dijk have been locked in a war of words in recent weeks, with the former passing comment on the Dutch international on his podcast. He said he had "full respect" for Van Dijk despite the defender hitting back at him for comments about his leadership.
Most notably, Rooney's comments about Van Dijk and team-mate Mohamed Salah not being at the same level since signing contract extensions last season have come into focus. The Liverpool skipper took aim at alleged "lazy criticism" from the ex-player after Saturday's win over Aston Villa and spoke up again on Tuesday.
"I think if you would watch games, then [you'd see] I would definitely take the responsibility," Van Dijk said. "I think the comment that I signed my new deal and then it's like, you know, that's it and let let it slide. I think that was a bit....
"I want to perform for the team, for the club for each and every one that support us through thick and thin. And when we go through a tough time as a team, when we lose in games, obviously I'm fortunate that didn't happen too many times but it hurts me so much. and I want to turn this around. And because I also see the work we put in each and every day, I see the quality that we have."
Van Dijk argued the criticism coming his way hasn't affected him too much, but suggested other members of the squad may have reacted differently. "You're dealing with... a squad of 25 players, a lot of young players, a couple of older players like myself and everyone lives a different life," he said. "So I can say that for me personally, it doesn't affect me, but obviously, I'm dealing as a captain with players that might be affected about it."
When asked if the criticism this season has been fair, he added: "Of course, if you lose games as a Liverpool player four or five in a row, that's a fair criticism. That is absolutely normal in that sense. But I think it's over the top at times as well, at that point.
"That's because we live in a world [where there] are so many platforms, so many people can say stuff, it will be picked up and made bigger... but I think it's good [for] especially ex-players that play the highest level, played at the top and dealt with difficult moments as well, to put a lot of things in perspective."
Liverpool climbed to third in the Premier League with their weekend victory over Aston Villa and followed it up with a 1-0 win over Real Madrid which made it nine points from four games in Europe. Alexis Mac Allister's goal was enough for victory, with Madrid keeper Thibaut Courtois helping keep the score down.
Next up for Arne Slot's team is a Premier League meeting with Manchester City, where a win would take Liverpool second going into the November international break. "We all know how football works, it can change overnight but we focus now on recovery," Van Dijk said.
"It sounds boring, but it is what it is. We'll recover it tomorrow, [get] back at it. And then full focus will be on the tough one against a very in form striker (Erling Haaland) as well like tonight (Kylian Mbappe)."