Last week, Dutch legend Marco van Basten criticised Virgil van Dijk for poor defending and leadership in the Netherlands' 1-1 draw against Ecuador.
"Van Dijk is just waiting and watching him shoot," Van Basten told NOS about Enner Valencia's equaliser against the Dutch team.
"What is he looking at? He needs to be on top of him! He just lets him shoot!
"He doesn’t take the lead. He takes care of nothing in the team. He makes a sound, but he doesn’t say anything. This is what he does."
The Liverpool defender has admitted he felt offended by Van Basten's comments.
"I don’t think he is really positive, so what should I do with it? I now mainly blame myself, actually," Van Dijk said, as quoted by Sport Witness.
"I have to be above that. And then I come back to the hotel after the game and then I think: that is (his reaction) of course already on AD. Fine, that’s how it works. And apart from that: I can handle criticism very well. When you play at the top, you are constantly criticised when things go a little less..
"It also felt a bit like an attack on me as a person, on my role as a leader. I thought that at such a moment, so shortly after the game, well… that just triggered me. I’m only human.
"That Van Basten says that I should have put more pressure on the ball with that goal against, that I did too little? Fine. Those are football moments. They must also be critical. I know very well when I make a mistake, or when I can do something better."
