Wayne Rooney has admitted his criticism of Virgil van Dijk was “unfair” after an awkward encounter between the pair following Liverpool’s 1–0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League.
The Reds sealed a huge win over the 15-time winners of European football’s most prestigious club competition, courtesy of Alexis Mac Allister’s bullet header in the second half.
It was a much improved performance from Liverpool, who had been criticised from all angles after losing six games from seven played across all competitions. One of those to call out the Reds was Rooney, who said Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah had not “really led the team” and that their “body language is not right”—something that had then gone to affect their teammates.
Van Dijk bit back, saying Rooney’s analysis was “lazy criticism,” and the two were then thrust together in front of the Amazon Prime TV cameras when the centre back came out to complete media duties instead of the anticipated Dominik Szoboszlai.
After exchanging views on the night, Rooney has now accepted that he’d overstepped the mark when critiquing Van Dijk, but said it was natural for the champions to be questioned when performances levels drop.
Rooney: Criticism Part of Being a Top Player
“It was meant to be Szoboszlai, I think, to come to the table,” Rooney said on the latest episode of his self-titled BBC Sport podcast. “But I think fair play to him, he came out and he put his point across. Listen, Virgil van Dijk over the last five, four years has been one of, if not, the best centre backs in the world, and his performances have dipped over the last few weeks.
“I’ve had my opinion on that; he has his own, which you have to respect. But when you’re the Premier League champions, teams are coming for you, and when you don’t win one game, people ask questions.”
He continued: “I think the issue is, when you don’t play well and you’re not winning games, as Premier League champions, everyone’s going to have an opinion.
“And, of course, when you’re not playing well or you’re not winning games that opinion... they’re going to look at why and give their thoughts why. Liverpool can use this in two different ways: they can let it affect them, or they can use it to spur them on.
“You look at Man Utd over the last few years, the criticism that they’ve had. I played the game, I was captain of England, captain of Man Utd. I got criticised for all kinds.
“That's part of being a top player. You have to deal with that. You have to accept it at times. Listen, I was unfair with my comments, I’d be the first to hold my hands up. Same way I did with Man Utd when I had a rant about them and then they won games, and I come back on that. If I was unfair, I’d be fair to hold my hands up.”
Rooney concluded that his words were perhaps over the top because he “doesn’t know” Van Dijk as a person, which had led him to believe that the 34-year-old may have downed tools after signing his new contract. But “the best players, top players, which Van Dijk is, use that to spur them on,”—Liverpool will be hoping that trend continues as they look to close the gap to early Premier League pacesetters Arsenal between now and the end of the calendar year.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Wayne Rooney Holds Hands Up in Virgil van Dijk Feud.
