Liverpool Captain van Dijk Slams Rooney’s Criticism as ‘Lazy’

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk shrugged off recent criticism directed at him by former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney.

Rooney recently questioned the leadership qualities of van Dijk and teammate Mohamed Salah on the BBC’s Wayne Rooney Show. The former England international stated his concern over the highly-paid duo’s body language.

"Virgil van Dijk and Salah, obviously they've signed new deals but I don't think they've really led that team this season,” Rooney said. "I think body language tells you a lot, and I think we're seeing slightly different body language from the two of them. They are the top two players in that team and if their body language is not right, that affects everyone else. I might be wrong on this, but if I was a Liverpool fan or the manager, that would be a big concern for me."

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BnNycoExDkQ

The 34-year-old Dutch defender described Rooney’s assessment as “lazy criticism.”

“I didn’t hear him last year,” van Dijk said on Saturday. “It doesn’t hurt me. Just to come back to this particular player, obviously a legend, a big player of the game who inspired so many, I can say only positive things, but I feel that comment is just a bit of a lazy criticism. It’s easy to blame the older players but he knows as well as everyone else that we do it together and try to help each other to get out of this. There are so many platforms nowadays that everyone can say whatever they like and it gets blown up.”

Rooney Continues To Question van Dijk’s Performances