Round three in the Virgil van Dijk vs Wayne Rooney word war on Tuesday night, and the Dutchman is now ahead on every judge’s card. After Liverpool saw out a 1-0 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League, their captain had the opportunity to ram Rooney’s critical words further down his throat, following a polite but pointed retort at the weekend.
Rooney was on punditry duty for Prime Video, pitchside at Anfield and midway through the post-match analysis when the camera shot switched to Van Dijk, strolling down the touchline and looking far happier than footballers usually do ahead of interviews. Faced with a five-strong team of Gabby Logan, Robbie Fowler, Rooney, Theo Walcott and Daniel Sturridge, Van Dijk inserted himself in between Fowler and Rooney, seemingly as close to Rooney as possible.
There were firm handshakes with everyone, and a full hug for former team-mate Sturridge. The embrace with Rooney was predictably cooler. “I think there was a lot of energy, a lot of hard work put into the performance today,” said Van Dijk. “They had won 14 in the last 15, they have a lot of quality. We all know their strengths, we know how they can punish you… so we had to be spot on in everything we do.”
Then, when speaking about the reaction to Liverpool’s poor run before victory against Aston Villa on Saturday, Van Dijk said: “In a world of chaos you have to try and stay calm. I think at times the noise was a lot.”
“You looking at anybody around here in particular?” asked Logan, referring of course to Rooney’s contribution to the aforementioned noise. For those who have fallen behind in their podcast consumption, Rooney used his last week to say: “Van Dijk and [Mohamed] Salah, obviously they’ve signed new deals and whatever, but I don’t think they’ve really led that team this season. I think body language tells you a lot and I think we’re seeing slightly different body language from the two of them.”
Following the Villa victory, Van Dijk said he was not affected by Rooney’s criticism, did not take it personally and was careful to praise the former Everton striker’s achievements. Also: “I would say it’s a bit of a lazy criticism. That’s my personal opinion. It’s easy to blame the other players but he knows obviously as well as everyone else we do it together trying to help each and every one of us to try to get out of this and, like I said as well, last year when things go well you don’t hear that at all. It is what it is.”
Rooney seemed to lean into the confrontation
So Tuesday night’s in-person meeting had the potential to turn heated, but Van Dijk is too classy and Rooney too hardy for any public dummy-spitting. Van Dijk preached perspective, and admitted criticism of Liverpool’s losing run was justified but correctly identified the way our media landscape amplifies any mildly spicy comment. “It is over the top at times. We live in a world with so many platforms and so many people that can say stuff which will be picked up and made bigger than what it is.”
Rooney seemed to lean into the confrontation and pitched his response perfectly, not doubling down nor desperate and faux-matey: “I’m not saying anything no more because I think I’ve spurred them on.” But then “I think what I said was fair.”
Van Dijk looked amused, with a mild trace of livid: “I think if you would watch games I will definitely take responsibility. I think the comment that I have signed my new deal and let it slide I think that was a bit… [he tailed off]. But that’s my personal opinion, and we move on.”
Breaking news: Unexpectedly grown-up exchange of football opinions! By the end, Rooney’s goodbye from Van Dijk extended to a conciliatory back slap along with his handshake. “I think that’s all good, I think that’s a truce there, he’ll probably come on your podcast now,” said Logan.
An excellent dry line from the host, but probably saying the quiet part loud. All of this makes for terrific fuel for the hungry football content machine. It was still cheering to see footballers of such stature disagreeing in a forthright but respectful way.
