'I didn't hear him last year': Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk takes aim at Wayne Rooney following Man United legend's criticism of his leadership and body language

Virgil van Dijk has hit back at Wayne Rooney after the former England captain criticised his leadership and body language in Liverpool’s recent slump.

Rooney took umbrage with Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah’s way of leading the team and said their mannerisms were a ‘big concern’.

But after leading Liverpool to a 2-0 win at Aston Villa on Saturday night to end talk of blips and crises, Van Dijk said Rooney’s take was ‘lazy’.

‘I didn’t hear him last year,’ said the Reds skipper.

‘No, it doesn't hurt me to be honest. Just to come back to this particular player, obviously a legend, a big player of the game who inspired so many, I can say only positive things but I feel that comment is just I would say it's a bit of a lazy criticism.

‘That's my personal opinion. It's easy to blame the other players but he knows obviously as well as everyone else we do it together trying to help each and every one of us to try to get out of this and, like I said as well, last year when things go well you don't hear that at all. It is what it is.

‘(Pundits) have to do that job as well, so it is what it is. Like I said, he has an opinion and we have to deal with it. And there's no hard feelings, by the way. I don't take it personally whatsoever.’

Talking more generally about the spotlight on Liverpool players, Van Dijk added: ‘It's a funny thing, isn't it? Because last year we didn't hear anything about this, because obviously things were going well and we were seen as the leaders.

‘And this year when things are not going as well as we want so far the last couple of weeks, then we're not doing our job properly. So that's the life we live. We feel that responsibility. We want to lead by example.

‘I know that if we have not the best results or not great performances, then myself and the manager will definitely always be questioned. That's part and parcel. I want to perform, not for myself, but for the team, for the club.

‘When there are difficult moments, I try to help my team-mates. When things don’t go well then that's the world we live in and people question loads.

'There are so many platforms nowadays that everyone can say whatever they like and it gets blown up.

‘I've heard the reports as well about (Arne Slot) being under pressure and stuff, but I don't think we play at the club that do the rash decisions. We all felt, and I think you all can agree on that, that we can work our way out of this.

‘Obviously it's not a guarantee, but we can do it together. As long as we believe, stay humble and keep working, I feel like we can do it, and we all have that feeling.

'We have to go on and I feel like internally there's no doubt that we can do this together.’