Former Liverpool star Danny Murphy has hit back at comments made by Virgil van Dijk.
The Reds centre-back spoke about attempting to shut out comments from the outside in the midst of Liverpool’s inconsistent run of form. Van Dijk was one of a number of players who was criticised after the 4-1 defeat to Napoli last week.
Van Dijk spoke to the media after Liverpool’s win over Ajax on Tuesday night. The Dutchman was asked if the players knew what they had to do to overcome their recent form.
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"Not listening to the outside world, that's the most important thing," Van Dijk told BT Sport.
"It’s funny sometimes because there’s a lot of ex-football players and they know exactly what we go through, but they say a lot of things to try get us down," he added.
"We know that last week was unacceptable, very bad and we tried to make it right. This is a step in the right direction, but we don’t get carried away because we play so many games. Now we have to focus on the national teams and then crack on.
"They [Ajax] scored with their first chance. But coming back from the horror show in Naples, it was very important for us to show a positive reaction. It’s not easy to turn it around, but it’s a step in the right direction. There were some great moments and it was important to win today and get that good feeling going into the international break."
Now Murphy has hit back at Van Dijk’s comments, labelling the remarks as “strange”. The former Liverpool midfielder went on to justify some of the criticisms that have been aimed at Van Dijk’s form in recent weeks.
“It’s a strange one coming from him because for the majority of his time at Liverpool, everyone has spent minutes, if not hours, eulogising about what a wonderful player he is and rightly so,” Murphy told talkSPORT. “He is a Rolls Royce of a defender and everyone knows his quality.
"The standards he has set himself, he has fallen below. It is honest, truthful punditry, nothing more than that.
“He’s been a revelation at Liverpool, but when he plays poorly and is not at it then we will call it like anyone should.
“When someone is having a dig, or is being critical, unless it gets personal, the last thing you do is qualify it by talking about it."
Murphy added: “You might listen in the four walls of your own home.
"I remember years ago, one of my first times on Match of the Day and Alan Hansen did a piece, some of it was good and some of it wasn’t. I didn’t go out in the press and say anything about Alan Hansen, I just took it on. I wouldn’t do that.
"It shows you are bothered. The mentality of an elite is ‘I’ll get on with my job and I’ll keep doing it the best I can’.
“What is said doesn’t bother me. That’s what you’ve got to show, your resilience.”
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