"He is basically doing nothing" - Rafael van der Vaart slams Liverpool superstar for his performance on international duty
Former Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart slammed Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk's performance against Italy in the third-placed match of the UEFA Nations League.
The Netherlands suffered a 3-2 defeat against Italy on Sunday, June 18. Federico Dimarco, Davide Frattesi, and Federico Chiesa scored for the Azzurri while Steven Bergwijn and Georginio Wijnaldum netted for the Oranje.
Former Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid midfielder Van der Vaart criticized Liverpool's Van Dijk for his role in Italy's third goal scored by Chiesa. The defender was lackadaisical in approaching Chiesa and allowed the Italian a lot of space to shoot and score to finish the game.
Van der Vaart said (via @TheEuropeanLad):
"Virgil van Dijk is being criticized and rightly so. For 20 minutes I thought: he is back, but that moment with Chiesa.. he is basically doing nothing."
Van Dijk made 41 appearances for the Reds across competitions last season, helping them keep 14 clean sheets. The central defender made 10 appearances for his country this past year, keeping four clean sheets.
Touted one of the best defenders in the world a few years ago, Van Dijk has suffered a drastic drop in form. He has, hence, been the subject of criticism from experts and fans.
Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk reacted to Roy Keane's criticism
Roy Keane recently hit out at Virgil van Dijk and his club teammates for their defending this season. The Manchester United man found it shambolic and said that the team defended like a pub team (via This is Anfield).
Liverpool's Van Dijk has now reacted to Keane's criticism. He said that criticisms are part of being a top professional footballer and insisted that players know when they play badly. The defender told The Mirror:
“In football it’s never plain sailing – but this season was still quite a shock. Sometimes the criticism was just right, both on the team and on me individually. But quite often it was not quite right. Either way, you have to be able to deal with it – and I’m glad I came out of it well. Mentally, that’s not always easy."'
He added:
"Criticism is part of it – and it’s certainly not a problem if it’s justified. But a footballer knows when he has played well or badly. Some comments are also only intended to be controversial and are said just for the sake of saying them. There are so many platforms on which people can express their opinions these days.”
Van Dijk is expected to be a key part of Liverpool next season. He joined the club from Southampton in 2018 and has helped them win numerous trophies, including one Premier League title and one UEFA Champions League trophy.