Richard Dunne has raised concerns over Virgil van Dijk’s leadership ability.
Following Jordan Henderson’s exit for Saudi Arabia earlier this summer the Dutchman was announced as Liverpool’s new club captain.
The 32-year-old is also the skipper of the Netherlands and although Ronald Koeman’s side defeated Greece 3-0 in Eindhoven last night former Premier League defender Dunne has questioned our No. 4’s leadership qualities.
“It has left them very weak defensively, as a team they don’t have the balance right at the moment,” Dunne told Virgin Media Sport (via The Boot Room). “They won the game against Gibraltar, but against teams that are a similar level they have really struggled.
“You don’t want to pin it on certain players, but the captain of the team at centre-back, Van Dijk, is one of the players who highlights the problems in the side. He seems to be very individualistic, he’s always pointing at people, pointing out their errors and nobody is working on their errors.”
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After Henderson left the club and vice-captain James Milner also moved on it seemed natural to hand the armband to van Dijk who had captained the side on numerous occasions down the years.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson, Mo Salah and Alisson Becker will have also been in with a shout to be named the new skipper but it was the Dutchman who Klopp opted for.
The former Southampton man missed our defeat of Aston Villa at the weekend through suspension after picking up a red card against Newcastle at St. James’ Park and it remains to be seen whether his ban will be extended after he hurled abuse at referee John Brookes.
Some may claim that the Holland skipper is not the player he once was but there’s no doubt that he’s still an integral part of Klopp’s side.
#Ep89 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️