Van Dijk CRITICISED for key moment in Netherlands win

Virgil van Dijk has had an impressive start to the new season for Liverpool, and has captained the side to three consecutive clean sheets.

Despite his brilliant start for Liverpool though, the Dutchman has received criticism following some questionable defending in the Netherlands’ 5-2 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina.

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The 33-year-old normally makes defending look effortless but was caught out in the 27th minute by Ermedin Demirovic, who ran in behind the Dutch defence completely unchallenged to equalise for the visitors.

The mistake did not matter in the end as the Netherlands went on the win the match, with Van Dijk’s Liverpool team-mate Cody Gakpo gtting his name on the score sheet.

What was the reaction to Van Dijk’s mistake?

The Netherlands captain is a divisive figure in his home nation and has never quite been received the same way that he is at Anfield. The Dutch media are not shy to call out any wrongdoing from the defender.

Voetbal Primeur released their player ratings following the match and gave Van Dijk a 6/10, saying: “Along with De Ligt, he completely lost goalscorer Ermedin Demirovic. The captain recovered, but did not yet show his Liverpool level.”

Football Oranje also gave Liverpool’s captain a 6/10 rating, criticising him for the first goal but also admitting he recovered well.

It wasn’t a complete disaster for Van Dijk, but it's clear that the Dutch media don’t feel they get the same from the defender as the Anfield faithful do.

Van Dijk’s impressive start

This is Van Dijk’s second season as Liverpool captain and he has led the team to three consecutive wins in the Premier League, most recently with a 3-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

The 74-capped Dutchman has continued to perform at a top level for Liverpool and now has countryman Ryan Gravenberch in the holding midfield role in front of him.

The cloud that hangs over Liverpool’s early season success is the contract situations of Van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah, but negotiations are reportedly set to start soon and, so far, it doesn’t seem to have affected the Reds on the pitch at all.

Arne Slot seems to have got it all right so far at Liverpool, and supporters will be hoping that he can keep it up for the entirety of the season.