Fans are shocked watching Virgil van Dijk’s horror show during the clash between Netherlands and Italy.
After losing to Croatia and Spain, the Netherlands and Italy met on Sunday afternoon in a play-off for third place in the Nations League.
Ronald Koeman’s men were 2-0 up after 20 minutes thanks to goals from Federico Dimarco and Davide Frattesi.
In the second half, Van Dijk was heavily criticized after defending Italy’s third goal by Federico Chiesa.
The Liverpool man failed to get close to the winger and allowed him to wander into the Dutch box before firing past goalkeeper Justin Bijlow. Fans were quick to react to Van Dijk on social media.
One said: “Van Dijk is disturbed, he may have to hang up his boots.”
Another tweeted: “Van Dijk time to hang up the boots mate.”
A third fan added: ‘Another day, another Van Dijk disaster, his demise is chilling.
Someone else wrote: ‘What happened to ‘greatest defender ever’ Van Dijk?
While a fifth commented: “Van Dijk should definitely hang up his boots and imagine being sat by a grandfather.”
At half-time, former Dutch international Rafael Van der Vaart said: “You can tell from the first goal that these players don’t bother to give their all.”
“Look at Van Dijk, with his half-effort jump, and Geertruida doesn’t seem to think for a second, ‘Hey, my house is on fire’.”
During Liverpool’s 19/20 season, Van Dijk was an integral part of Jurgen Klopp’s defense as they won the Premier League title.
However, Van Dijk has struggled to regain his best football since suffering a serious knee injury in the 20/21 season.
Speaking recently about the criticism he has faced, the Liverpool native said:
“I don’t feel too big to be vulnerable.” It’s been a pretty intense season, with a lot of ups and downs and people need to understand that we’re not robots. It was a year in which I learned a lot, especially off the pitch and certainly mentally.”
Italy won 3–2 to secure third place in the Nations League.
Virgil van Dijk has been described as a “strange” defender by Marco van Basten, with the Dutch legend praising the fellow Liverpool centre-back.
In recent years, Van Dijk has been regarded as one of the best defenders in the world, if not the best, with Michael Owen going so far as to claim he is the best centre-back EVER!
This season, however, Owen has been quite stunned, and it’s rare that he needs much help to do so, as the Liverpool defender’s form hasn’t been great.
He has been criticized for his performances against Fulham, Manchester United, where he fouled on Jadon Sancho’s goal, and Napoli, where he was credited with a 2.4 rating.
However, the criticism didn’t end even during his international cap as former Dutch striker and manager Van Basten pointed out a specific mistake.
Former AC Milan star Van Basten has claimed the 31-year-old defender is too passive when it comes to playing from behind.
The former striker finds the way Van Dijk plays ‘strange’ but credited Ajax player Jurrien Timber with taking the initiative with the ball.
“Jurrien Timber is our biggest strength in defense,” Van Basten said of VI.
“He always takes the initiative, just like Nathan Ake, while the best defender [Van Dijk] takes the least initiative of the three, which is strange that such a great centre-back does so little in the preparation.”
“Ajax are playing great football thanks to Jurrien Timber and the national team are also playing great football thanks to him. It’s thanks to him that we can play from behind so easily.”
Timber was strongly linked with a move to Manchester United this summer, but he has reportedly decided to stay on following talks with former United boss Louis van Gaal.
Having missed that goal, United turned their attention to Lisandro Martinez, who quickly became a fan favorite at Old Trafford.
However, at just 21 years old, Timber still has a huge future ahead of him and it is likely that he will be earning a lot of money in the future when he leaves Ajax.
Van Dijk has also been impressed by his international team-mate, with the former Southampton defender saying his fellow defender is better than he is at that age. “He has so much potential. I hope he can develop further. So I think everything will be fine,” said Van Dijk
And another Dutch legend was also full of praise for Timber. With Ruud Gullit who in a video interview tells the Ajax champion how much he was affected by Timber’s death.
“I mean one thing. I still think you’re one of the best in possession. Really, you can play football very well.
“I’ve always had doubts about defense because you’re not that tall. But I see you’ve improved, especially in these duels.”
“Because you play with a lot of space behind you at Ajax, sometimes you have to be able to cover well.” And I think you’ve made incredible progress on that.
