Van Dijk snaps back at Dutch great van Basten
Netherlands World Cup captain Virgil van Dijk fired a withering response in the face of stiff criticism from Dutch great Marco van Basten, retorting: "I don't think he's ever positive."
A World Cup draw with Ecuador was not a result the Netherlands was looking for, with the 1-1 outcome meaning Louis van Gaal's team failed to nail down a last-16 place with a game to spare.
Late goals earned the Dutch victory over Senegal in their opener and they should have no trouble in beating hosts Qatar to advance from Group A.
But letting Cody Gakpo's sixth-minute opener against Ecuador be cancelled out by Enner Valencia's leveller early in the second half left attacking legend van Basten unimpressed, particularly with the Oranje skipper.
"You go in front very quickly and then I think a thought arises: OK, we are ahead, we have to defend," Euro 88 hero van Basten told Dutch broadcaster NOS.
"But that is something that does not help us. I think Virgil should play the leading role in that. He talks a lot, but says nothing.
"Who's the best player on the team? That's Virgil.
"When you see what he does in possession... It's just tapping a ball to the players next to him. He needs to pick up the pace. It just goes way too slow."
Reacting to the remarks, Liverpool centre-back van Dijk told Voetbal International: "I don't think he is ever positive, so what do you do with it?
"It is easy to make an analysis from [NOS headquarters in] Hilversum. I don't want to say that I played a fantastic game, not at all. But the things that are said about me failing as a captain: what do you do with that?
"I'm always at the front, I lead the team in the best way possible."
Van Dijk made more defensive clearances (6) than any player against Ecuador and was kept busy as the South American side had 15 shots to the Netherlands' paltry two – the team's lowest total at a World Cup since at least 1966, the first tournament for which such data is available.
