Rafael van der Vaart bashes Liverpool superstar. Rafael van der Vaart, a former midfielder for the Netherlands, criticized Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk for his performance against Italy in the UEFA Nations League match for third place.
On June 18, the Netherlands lost to Italy by a score of 3-2. Steven Bergwijn and Georgino Wijnaldum scored for the Oranje, but Federico Dimarco, Davide Frattesi, and Federico Chiesa scored for the Azzurri.
Van der Vaart, a former midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid, criticized Liverpool’s Van Dijk for his contribution to Chiesa’s third goal for Italy. The defender approached Chiesa carelessly, giving the Italian enough room to shoot and score to win the match.
According to Van der Vaart (via @TheEuropeanLad): “Virgil van Dijk is under fire, and with good reason. He is returning, but at that point with Chiesa.. he is essentially doing nothing, I thought for twenty minutes.”
Last season, Van Dijk made 41 appearances for the Reds in various competitions, contributing to their 14 clean sheets. This past year, the central defender made 10 appearances for his nation and recorded four shutouts.
Van Dijk, who was hailed as one of the top defenders in the world a few years ago, has seen his play drastically deteriorate. As a result, he has drawn criticism from both experts and followers.
Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool responded to Roy Keane’s comments as follows:
Recently, Roy Keane criticized Virgil van Dijk and his side for their defending this year. The man from Manchester United thought it was chaotic and claimed that the team played defense like a pub team (via This is Anfield).
Van Dijk of Liverpool has finally responded to Keane’s comments. He asserted that players should be aware of when they perform poorly and that criticisms are a necessary part of being a top-level professional footballer.
As he stated to The Mirror: “In football, nothing is ever easy, but this season was still quite a surprise. Sometimes the criticism of the team or I was accurate. However, it was frequently not exactly correct. In either case, you have to be able to handle it, and I’m glad I handled it successfully. That’s not always simple mentally.”
He added: “Criticism is a part of it, and if it’s legitimate, it’s not a problem. However, a football player can tell whether he played well or poorly. Additionally, some remarks are made purely to stir up controversy. These days, there are so many platforms available for people to voice their ideas.”
Next season, Van Dijk is anticipated to play a significant role for Liverpool. He moved to the team from Southampton in 2018, and since then, he has assisted in their collection of several awards, including one Premier League championship and one UEFA Champions League triumph.
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