Virgil van Dijk's latest performance against Germany has been criticised by the Dutch media, with the Liverpool captain accused of failing to keep up with the pace of the game during the Netherlands' 1-1 Nations League draw.
Mixed ratings for the Liverpool captain
Voetbalzone labelled the veteran "disappointing" on the night, handing him a match rating of 5.5/10. They said: "The captain thought he had put the Netherlands ahead with a well-placed header, but saw his goal disallowed and picked up a yellow card later in the match."
Voetbal Primeur gave him a 6/10 rating and noted that he struggled defensively, writing: "The captain decided to continue after a conversation with Xavi and seemed to be giving the new national coach a flying start. To the disbelief of many, the goal was disallowed. Van Dijk was strong on the ball, but defensively things sometimes moved a tad too fast for him."
Van Dijk's frustrations on the pitch
Van Dijk came up against his former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, whose introduction to international football was a baptism of fire. The centre-back rose for a corner and headed the ball into the net, but the goal was ruled out for a foul by Brian Brobbey on Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
The Netherlands had another goal ruled out and conceded to Felix Nmecha before half-time. Despite being the more dominant side, they had to wait until stoppage time for an equaliser, which came through another of Klopp's former Liverpool players, forward Cody Gakpo, who scored with a volley.
Post-match reaction and media scrutiny
Van Dijk cut a frustrated figure after the match, taking issue with the manner of Germany's goal, which came after they continued play despite Brobbey being down injured, labelling it a "disgrace". He also questioned the decision to rule out his goal, saying: "I thought that was disallowed very easily. In my opinion, Brian didn't do anything at all. He was standing there, but he did absolutely nothing."
Voetbal International echoed the criticism with a 6/10 rating, while Algemeen Dagblad were more generous with a 7/10, the best across the backline along with Denzel Dumfries.
The match ratings are unlikely to repair Van Dijk's already fractured relationship with the Dutch media, following a frosty confrontation with a journalist ahead of the match. "One of your colleagues also said, of course, that it was my idea to switch to playing with a back five. That is utter nonsense," Van Dijk told one reporter.
"The fact is we simply failed at the World Cup. Those are the hard facts. We didn't play a good World Cup. It's not about me. You perform together. You're a team. Your claim that I destroyed Dutch football after the World Cup - that sort of thing is completely baseless."
In his post-match interview, the 35-year-old highlighted the transition the Netherlands are undergoing under new manager Xavi, saying: "I think we deserve at least a point tonight. We played well in spells, but at some moments we were a bit vulnerable. If we press, we can still get better at that. After three days of work, I think it was a great game."
