Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk defended himself after former Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney heavily criticised the Dutch skipper for his role in Paris Saint-Germain’s opening goal at Anfield on Tuesday night.
Ousmane Dembele fired PSG in front on the night and level on aggregate in the second leg of the engrossing Champions League last-16 tie. The in-form Frenchman was operating as a roaming false nine in midweek, dropping off the frontline to receive the ball in space before playing it out wide to Bradley Barcola whose low cross eventually fell for Dembele to tap in.
Rooney, in his capacity as a pundit for Amazon Prime, singled out Liverpool’s captain when analysing the goal. “They are trying to press the ball and Van Dijk gets lazy,” the former England international argued. “If you keep your eye on Van Dijk, he’s walking and leaves a massive gap to Dembele. All he has to do is come across and cover Dembele because there is no other pass for Paris to get out and he doesn’t.”
No more goals were scored, forcing the tie to a penalty shootout which PSG won.
Van Dijk didn’t dwell on this European elimination – instead going to watch his daughter’s school’s production of Fantastic Mr Fox – but the topic of Rooney’s criticism was raised this week. “Someone told me about this,” Van Dijk admitted. “I think at that particular moment I’m helping [Andrew] Robertson, telling him to clear the outside. I take the inside. I’m even explaining now what I thought at that moment, but if he [Rooney] thought it was lazy then he gave his opinion. That’s it.
“There were so many challenges years ago for those players and, obviously, it’s a challenge for the players nowadays that you have to deal with opinions here and there and it gets blown up all the time.
“Looking at what I see in the dressing room, the boys are doing well in terms of keeping their heads down and focusing on the task ahead. That’s the most important thing I want to see. No one’s going smooth sailing, especially if you’re in the Premier League.
“If we get the reward for it at the end of the season then I’m sure Liverpool is going to be bouncing.”
Van Dijk and his teammates could be rewarded as soon as Sunday evening when Liverpool take on Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
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