Gary Lineker admits that he understands both sides of the argument between Wayne Rooney and Virgil van Dijk.
The Liverpool captain was heavily criticised by the Manchester United legend as Rooney said that Van Dijk has lacked leadership this term.
This came after the Reds’ poor string of results, where they only won one game out of seven.
mail iconJoin our newsletter for news & smart analysis.
Since then, they’ve managed to beat Aston Villa and Real Madrid, with Van Dijk even calling Rooney out for what he said while live on Amazon Prime Sports.
Former captain of England Wayne Rooney smiles as he works for TV ahead of the UEFA Champions League, league phase football match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Anfield.
Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images
And now, Lineker has shared his thoughts on the feud.
Gary Lineker understands why Virgil van Dijk would be ‘humpy’ about what Wayne Rooney said
Over the last few years, Van Dijk has been one of the Reds’ best players.
His ability to lead his men and guide them out of rough patches is one of the best things about him.
In fact, he’s even held a meeting with Liverpool’s first-team squad already this season to try and get them back on track.
MORE LIVERPOOL STORIES
And, when that was questioned, Lineker admitted that he can see why the Dutchman got “humpy” over Rooney’s comments.
“But I also understand why you get humpy. Let’s be honest, I would imagine if Wayne Rooney has spoken about Virgil van Dijk 50 times, 49 times out of 50 would have been very positive,” he said on The Rest is Football Podcast.
“He’s not been in the punditry game long enough probably to mention him that many times, but we have.
“We would also have mentioned Virgil van Dijk over what we’ve done this pod now, two and a half years almost. I would say almost every time we’ve eulogised about him, we’ve told everyone how amazing he is, what a [great] leader is, but this season has been slightly below, and we will call that out. So he could equally be critical of us for that.
“But footballers and in fact, not just footballers, I think all people in life, if you get hundreds of compliments and you get one derogatory comment, insult, criticism, call it what you like, that’s the one that tends to stay in your mind and it stays in your head.
“And they forget all the lovely things that you’ve said. So I understand it from both sides.”
Virgil van Dijk must ensure that Liverpool continue winning their games
Liverpool’s last two outings against Real and Villa have both been rather impressive performance-wise.
Going into the clashes, most fans thought they’d get pummelled by Unai Emery and Xabi Alonso’s men, but, somewhat surprisingly, Liverpool took the win from both games against the Villans and Los Blancos.
October was tough for Liverpool, with the club losing almost every game that they played.
There was the odd anomaly, such as their 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, but more often than not, they were second best.
Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool celebrates the opening goal during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD4 match between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid C.F. at Anfield
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
If Van Dijk wants to prove Rooney wrong and show that he is still the excellent leader that he’s been over the last couple of years, he must ensure that the Anfield outfit continue winning.
If not, more questions will be asked, and more fans, pundits, and journalists will start to slate him.