There was a period not so long ago when nothing and no one could get passed Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk.
The towering Dutch colossus was one of the architects of the Reds glorious march to a longed-for Premier League title and another Champions League.
However, he hasn’t been ‘on it’ for some while now and is routinely beaten both on the floor and in the air. Indeed, it’s hard to argue against van Dijk being the root cause of some goals that have been conceded.
Jurgen Klopp clearly isn’t interested in giving him a kick up the backside by putting him on the bench, preferring to rotate other players to partner the Dutchman.
His poor form – with just 12 tackles this season, he’s joint 243rd in the English top flight per the official Premier League website – has attracted some less than complimentary analysis in certain quarters, with Dutch legend, Wesley Sneijder, being one of the most vocal.
His polarising point of view also seems to have upset the Liverpool man because he completely ignored his countryman at FIFA’s ‘The Best’ awards which took place earlier in the week.
“FIFA The Best? It was fun, it’s nice to see old faces again,” Sneijder told Vandaag Inside, cited by the Liverpool ECHO.
“I saw Messi too after a long time. I saw Virgil van Dijk too, but from a distance, I think he wasn’t really happy as I have been critical about him.
“He didn’t come up to me. He can’t really take criticism.”
The best way for the player to answer Sneijder is on the pitch, so even if so doing this season isn’t in the equation, leading Liverpool to some silverware in the 2023/24 campaign should see van Dijk able to stand proud again, and put Sneijder back in his box at the same time.