Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand insists it was “brilliant” to see Virgil van Dijk call out Wayne Rooney’s criticism of the Liverpool defender.
The Reds have been going through a poor run of form with Arne Slot’s side losing four Premier League matches in a row to put themselves seven points adrift of leaders Arsenal.
Defending champions Liverpool got back on track over the weekend with a 2-0 win over Aston Villa at Anfield but the damage may have already been done in terms of their title aspirations.
Van Dijk called out Rooney’s “lazy criticism” of the Liverpool captain and team-mate Mohamed Salah after the former Man Utd striker insisted their body language had changed since signing new contracts earlier this year.
And Ferdinand loved that Liverpool star Van Dijk called out Rooney with every club need players like the Dutchman with “character” and “a bit of personality”.
Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel: “I absolutely love that Virgil van Dijk, the captain of Liverpool, is coming out and saying, ‘I ain’t having what people are saying, I don’t agree with that and I don’t agree with that’. I think it’s brilliant.
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“This is what you want. This is what you need. You need players of character, a bit of personality. Whether you agree with him or not, it’s a different conversation, but I like the fact that he’s prickly and he reads it and he sees it, he hears it and he goes, ‘No, I’m not having that and I want to call it out’.”
Liverpool forward Salah has come in for some criticism from Reds fans this season with the Egyptian contributing five goals and three assists in 14 appearances in all competitions this term.
His overall performances have dropped this season after a phenomenal 2024/25 campaign but Ferdinand has laughed off suggestions from some Liverpool fans that he should be dropped and potentially even sold.
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Ferdinand added: “How long has Mo Salah been at Liverpool? Seven, eight years? Top scorer, breaking all sorts of records, and I’m seeing people, because he’s had a bit of a couple of months off it, or maybe three or four months off it in some people’s lives, right.
“He shouldn’t start. We should get rid of him. Are you crazy?
“He’s given you seven or eight years of absolute, like ridiculous numbers and ridiculous output, got you winning again, and you’re going after a little dizzy spell out of it, of out of confidence, maybe he’s dropped or whatever, a form’s gone a little bit, and you’re going, let’s get someone else in.
“You are nuts.”