Van Dijk also responded to Van Basten’s criticism after draw against Ecuador.
As per the reporting of NOS, Dutch legend Marco Van Basten has criticised Virgil van Dijk for his lack of leadership following an average performance from the 2010 World Cup runner-ups.
Netherlands failed to draw any attention with their performances in the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022. Liverpool’s Van Dijk is the skipper of Dutch side and he was on the receiving end of Van Basten’s thoughts.
The Dutch played a 1-1 draw against Ecuador in Group A despite taking the lead early on thanks to Cody Gakpo’s opener.
They could only hold onto the lead up until the 49th minute when Enner Valencia scored his third goal of the tournament after La Tri tested goalkeeper Andreas Noppert throughout the match but Van Basten did not hold back on his thoughts of the Liverpool defender.
“You get ahead very quickly,” Van Basten said of Cody Gakpo’s early opening goal against Ecuador.
“And then I think a thought arises of: ok, we are ahead, we have to defend. But that’s something that doesn’t help us. I think Virgil has to play the main role in that. He talks a lot, but says nothing.”
Van Dijk himself responded to Van Basten’s criticism straight and said, “It’s easy to make an analysis from Hilversum. I don’t want to say I played a fantastic game, not at all. But the things being said about me failing as captain: what to do with that? I’m always up front, I lead the team in the best way possible.”
Netherlands can secure a place in the round of 16 with a win against Qatar. If they fail to do so, we might see an early group exit of Netherlands.
See More:
- Liverpool to find opportunities to strengthen their squad in January
- Potential buyers would prefer Man United over Liverpool
