Van Dijk rejects Rooney critique as Liverpool head into pivotal week

Virgil van Dijk dismissed Wayne Rooney's criticism of Liverpool's leadership as "a bit of a lazy criticism" on Saturday after the club halted a damaging run of results with a 2-0 win over Aston Villa at Anfield. The Dutch captain said the squad remains united and focused on improving performances as Liverpool prepare for a pivotal week that includes a Champions League meeting with Real Madrid and a Premier League trip to Manchester City.

Rooney, speaking in the aftermath of Liverpool's 3-2 loss at Brentford, had suggested that Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah had not "really led that team this season" and pointed to their body language as a concern. Rooney later said he respected Van Dijk but stood by his view that the defender had not been at his usual level this campaign. Van Dijk, who has captained the Netherlands since 2018, replied that he did not take the remarks personally and stressed leadership is a collective responsibility.

The Villa victory ended a sequence of results that had placed the reigning champions under heavy scrutiny. Liverpool had lost four straight Premier League matches and suffered multiple defeats across competitions, a slide that saw them drop down the...