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‘They say a lot to take us down’: Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk hits back at pundits after Ajax win for continued criticism of Reds stars… but Rio Ferdinand pushes for criticism after Napoli humiliation ‘deserved’
- Virgil van Dijk has hit back at pundits who have criticized his Liverpool side
- The Reds were widely criticized for their shocking performance against Napoli
- Jürgen Klopp’s team was beaten 4-1 in Naples in their Champions League opener
- But Rio Ferdinand has insisted that criticism after that game was ‘deserved’
- Defender Van Dijk spoke after Liverpool jumped 2-1 past Ajax on Tuesday
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Virgil van Dijk has lashed out in frustration at pundits who continue to criticize Liverpool players after The Reds knocked out a 2-1 win over Ajax.
Jurgen Klopp’s side moved past the Dutch outfit thanks to an 89th-minute header from Joel Matip as they took their first three points from their Champions League group at Anfield on Tuesday night.
And Van Dijk, who along with all his team-mates was roundly criticized for his performance in their European opener – a 4-1 thrashing against Napoli – told BT Sport that such pundits were only meant to bring down morale at Liverpool.
Virgil van Dijk has become frustrated with pundits who continue to criticize Liverpool players
The Reds players have been criticized after a 4-1 Champions League humiliation against Napoli
He said: “When I came back from the horror show in Naples, it was very important to show a positive reaction. It’s not easy to turn it around, but it’s a step in the right direction… It was very important to win going into the international break.
‘We don’t listen to the outside world. A lot of ex-football players, who know exactly what we are going through, say a lot to bring us down, but we know that the last game was really bad and this was a step in the right direction.”
But pundit Rio Ferdinand, speaking to BT Sport after the game, insisted that his and others’ criticism of Liverpool after the defeat in Naples was justified and the players had to admit it was ‘deserved’.
The former Manchester United defender went on to say that if he was criticized as a player and it was personal he would get annoyed but he accepted it if it was justified.
But pundit Rio Ferdinand, speaking of BT Sport, insisted that his and others’ criticisms of Liverpool after the defeat in Naples were justified and the players should admit it was ‘deserved’.
He said, ‘If I thought (criticism) was wrong, or I thought it was personal, I’d get the bump. But if it was deserved, you know what, I’d raise my hands and say it.
“Listen, the Naples gig, if they’re honest, all the players would (admit) it was a bad day at the office and we deserved the criticism we got.
“But again, we repeated it tonight, we didn’t say they were a bad team overnight, nobody said they were bad players overnight. It was a bad performance.’
Klopp’s side, whose Napoli loss was their last game after the weekend’s Premier League games were canceled following the death of the Queen, opened the scoring via Mohamed Salah, with Mohammed Kudus equalizing for late Matip’s winner .