Virgil van Dijk has now made Wayne Rooney backtrack on his comments about the Dutchman not leading Liverpool this season.
October was undoubtedly a difficult month for the Reds, with the Anfield outfit losing most of their games across all competitions.
None of the Reds’ players performed particularly well across the entire month, but there was the odd decent performance from some of Liverpool’s first-team squad.
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However, since nobody expected to see this from the reigning Premier League champions, Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah were singled out by Rooney, with the Englishman slamming them for their lack of leadership.
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Aston Villa at Anfield.
Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
However, his tune now seems to have changed, especially after Liverpool beat Real Madrid 1-0 in their Champions League tie on Tuesday.
After Liverpool beat Los Blancos, Van Dijk was interviewed by Amazon Prime Sports, with Rooney featuring on the show as a pundit.
Although there wasn’t much hostility between the two of them, you could cut the tension with a knife as Van Dijk faced up to Rooney and questioned him on what he said.
And now, on The Wayne Rooney Show, the Red Devils legend has backtracked on his comments and admitted that he was “unfair.”
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“I think Van Dijk where his issue was and maybe I was a bit unfair on that because I don’t know him as a person well, and when I said he got his new contract, and he looked like [he] downed tools a little bit,” he said.
“So maybe I was a little bit unfair on that comment.”
Virgil van Dijk proved that his leadership of Liverpool was still on point
Many questions have been asked about Liverpool since the start of the season.
Most thought that they’d be unstoppable with the number of new players they added to their ranks, such as Alexander Isak, but in reality, that’s been far from the case.
Their 2025-26 season started well, but once their luck ran out, Liverpool were dominated across the board.
This made fans question whether players such as Salah and Van Dijk should have even been offered extensions and whether they still had what it takes to lead the Reds.
Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk plays during the UEFA Champions League match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Anfield
Photo by Steven Halliwell/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
However, in Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Real Madrid, their true colours shone through with fans finally seeing the team they dreamed of in action.
Indeed, improvements can still be made, but the fact that the Anfield outfit have persevered and pulled through this rough patch shows that Van Dijk still has what it takes.