Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has responded to Wayne Rooney's criticism of his leadership and perceived lack of effort during Liverpool's recent Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain. The former Manchester United star and England international had labeled Van Dijk as "lazy" for his role in Ousmane Dembele's opening goal in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at Anfield.
Rooney, speaking on Amazon Prime Video, scrutinized Van Dijk's positioning and reaction to PSG's attack, stating, "They are trying to press the ball and Van Dijk gets lazy. If you keep your eye on Van Dijk, he's walking and leaves a massive gap to Dembele". He further added, "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. Dembele gets it and he's got a lot of space, gets the ball out wide and then Konate doesn't switch on and then he reacts". PSG ultimately won the match 1-0, taking the tie to a penalty shootout which they won, knocking Liverpool out of the Champions League.
Van Dijk addressed Rooney's comments, explaining his perspective on the situation. "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". He continued, "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".
The Liverpool captain appeared to downplay the significance of Rooney's remarks, acknowledging that dealing with opinions is part of being a modern footballer. "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," Van Dijk stated.
Despite the Champions League exit and external criticism, Van Dijk emphasized the positive atmosphere within the Liverpool dressing room. "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," he said. "That's the most important thing I want to see. No one's going smooth sailing, especially if you're in the Premier League".
Van Dijk concluded with an optimistic outlook for the remainder of the season. "If we get the reward for it at the end of the season then I'm sure Liverpool is going to be bouncing," he stated. Liverpool is set to face Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final.
