Arne Slot has urged Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk to take criticism of his form as a compliment in the aftermath of his public feud with Wayne Rooney.
Rooney publicly questioned Van Dijk’s leadership during the Reds’ slump this season, which the Dutchman described as “lazy criticism.” The pair ultimately came face to face on live TV just a few days later to continue their feud.
The Manchester United legend has recently walked back on his comments, admitting he may have been out of line.
In a recent interview with Sky Sports, Slot made it clear he strongly disagreed with anybody who had doubts about Van Dijk’s role as a leader in the Liverpool dressing room.
“I’ve picked captains at my former clubs where the age of the players were much younger,” Slot proclaimed. “Maybe not completely because they were already the leader of the team, but I’m hoping that could help them to become a leader of the team.
“But with Virgil, it’s so clear that he’s the leader of this team. When you walk through the AXA [training centre], when we start the training session, you can hear him, you can feel he’s our leader.
Arne Slot (left) had plenty of support for Van Dijk. / Ralf Ibing/firo sportphoto/Getty Images
“He’s already been so important for this club for so many years, but I don’t think I’ve had many captains that were so vocal, so loud as he is. He’s been a very good captain for me and since he became the captain of this club.
“He sets the bar at 10 out of 10 and when he has a nine out of 10 [performance], he sometimes gets criticised as well… I think other players will get compliments for a nine out of 10, but he gets criticised for that.
“He had similar form to last season, but there were one or two moments this season where he could have done better defensively and he got criticised by that straightaway. Maybe he should it see as a compliment, because that’s where he set the bar from.”
Rooney had a similar message for Van Dijk, admitting that his “unfair” criticism was to be expected because of the defender’s status as an elite player, challenging him to use the comments as inspiration to improve.
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