Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has responded to comments made by Virgil van Dijk in the week.
The Reds centre-back spoke after Liverpool beat Ajax 2-1 in the Champions League group stage match on Tuesday night. Van Dijk hit back at some of the criticisms that have been aimed at himself and his team-mates in the early weeks of the season.
"Not listening to the outside world, that's the most important thing," Van Dijk told BT Sport, when asked if the players knew what they had to do to overcome their recent form.
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"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 Carragher has responded to those comments from Van Dijk, and admitted that the response from the Liverpool defender was what he expected.
“Criticism does spike you,” Carragher told the Mail Online
“You saw a huge turnaround in Liverpool’s performance [against Ajax]. Individually, van Dijk was back to his best.
“If he wants to bite back at whoever that might be – I might be one of them or it might be somebody else – but I think Virgil van Dijk has had more pats on the back in the last five years in the Premier League.
“Maybe only Kevin De Bruyne in terms of classing them as the two best players in the league and in the world in their positions.
“So, he has done well out of not getting too much criticism in his career. There are people a lot worse off than him.”
Carragher went on to speak about Liverpool’s inconsistent form this season. The Reds legend named four players whose performances have not been at the level of previous seasons so far.
“You have got a team who have been at the top of their game for five or six years and maybe they have come off that slightly in terms of intensity and that is what the team is built on,” said Carragher. “Intensity is the identity of that team.
“They have had injuries and three of four players - who have been outstanding - have not been playing at their best.
“Maybe Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, maybe Fabinho in midfield, Mo Salah, these players have been out of this world for four or five years and they haven’t been at their best at the start of this season, but that is allowed, it is normal.
“They are only human. We have all been there as players.
“I think it is a combination of those three factors. Players off-form off the back of five or six years being at 100 percent intensity and injuries. They are just not quite there.”
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