Virgil van Dijk‘s decision to depart the Netherlands camp early this month led to criticism in his home country, with Arne Slot baffled but not surprised.
Van Dijk had initially pledged that he would stay with his Dutch teammates despite being suspended for their final game of the month following a red card against Hungary.
But soon after it was confirmed that he would instead leave the camp and report back to Liverpool early, which did not go down well in the Netherlands.
It continued a bizarre trend of fierce criticism of the defender, who is captain for club and country, with pundits in the Dutch media often singling Van Dijk out.
Asked if he was surprised at the scrutiny over Van Dijk’s early departure, Slot insisted it was a familiar situation.
“If you are not from Holland, it might be a surprise. If you come from Holland, then you know that the Dutch media is all about criticism,” he told reporters on Friday.
“I exaggerate a bit, but if there is a chance to criticise someone, Dutch people in general will find a way to criticise you.
“I don’t think he deserves this, because he played some very good games for the Dutch national team in his last few games as well.
“But that’s not a surprise for me.
“Is it a surprise that he gets criticism? Yes it is. Maybe not by the Dutch media, but in general I would say that’s a surprise.
“Because if you are in this schedule, in this fixture list, it’s completely normal that you have a few days off.
“Some other players in Holland, which you probably don’t know, didn’t come because they were tired.
“How on earth you can criticise a player that’s played every game for us and played the Euros…that’s Dutch media!”
There is, at least, no grey area when it comes to Van Dijk’s reputation at Liverpool, with the No. 4 universally embraced as not only one of the most important players in the squad, but also one of the club’s best-ever players.
“He has been crucial for us, like many others, but Virgil definitely as well,” Slot continued.
“From what you guys see on the pitch, we see all the same. How good he is in defence, how much contributes to the offensive side of our play.
“But what you guys don’t see and what I do see is how important he also is on the training ground.
“He’s always the one that’s most loud during the sessions, he always brings a lot of energy into our sessions and quality as well.
“So what you see during the weekends is also what I see during the weeks.
“And that’s what you are hoping for, if you have a captain that is not only showing his performances in the weekends, but also during the week he’s definitely our leader.”
