Former Premier League winger Theo Walcott has explained how Virgil van Dijk responded to being criticised by Wayne Rooney for his performances.
Liverpool have failed to replicate their brilliance from last season and as the club’s captain, Virgil van Dijk has to bear much of the responsibility for his team’s performances.
This has caused the central defender to be scrutinised by retired players who now work in the media, including an Everton and Manchester United legend.
Wayne Rooney took aim at van Dijk, raising questions over his leadership and body language. However, the 34-year-old hit back by branding Rooney’s comments as ‘lazy’.
The unrest between the Premier League winning pair came to a head after Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League.
According to Arsenal legend Theo Walcott, Connor Bradley was set to be interviewed after the match. However, van Dijk prevented this because he wanted the chance to directly confront Rooney over his remarks.
Walcott told It’s called Soccer: “Well we actually wanted Connor Bradley, Connor Bradley was going to come on. Virgil van Dijk said ‘no, I want to go out and see Wayne.’ So there you go, so he wanted to.”
Despite Rooney’s phenomenal records as a former player at the top of the English game, van Dijk was not interested in listening to his criticism.
The ex-England international did concede that van Dijk had played very well last year, but he was unwilling to backtrack on his recent take on the Liverpool skipper.
“Long story short, Wayne Rooney of course, decorated player. However, he basically outlined his leadership qualities off the performance of himself of why he needs to perform well, basically,” Walcott continued.
“Virgil van Dijk said that he didn’t hear him last year and then Wayne Rooney comes back saying ‘well there’s nothing to critique you last year because you were that good’.
“I was stood there watching these two guys and he is massive and he makes Wayne Rooney look tiny.”
It has not been an easy season for van Dijk, who is having to lead a team who look highly disjointed. The tragic loss of Diogo Jota has been followed by the arrival of players who seem lost in Arne Slot’s team.
Along with this, he continues to be paired alongside Ibrahima Konate who has not had a good season up to this point. Additionally, the France international is still yet to put pen to paper and commit his long-term future to Liverpool.
For now, van Dijk will look to block out all the external noise and concentrate on helping his team to find their rhythm and build some winning runs.
