Liverpool and Netherlands defender Virgil Van Dijk recently criticised Dutch teammate Matthijs de Ligt during the international break.
De Ligt received criticism for his performances against Germany and Bosnia, in which the defender was responsible for the opponents scoring the goal.
Van Dijk expressed his unhappiness with the performance of the Man United defender, publicly criticising him after the match.
Following the match against Germany, Van Dijk said, referencing De Ligt’s poor defending as quoted by The Mirror:
“This is football.
“You have to learn from this. It was one moment but at the highest level you will get punished for it.”
Football pundit Harry Redknapp has now claimed that Van Dijk threw his centre-back partner under the bus.
Redknapp included the Dutch defender, De Ligt, in his Premier League team of the week for the defender’s impressive performance against Southampton.
De Ligt scored a goal and kept a clean sheet, helping Man United to a convincing 3-0 win against the Saints.
Speaking to Bet Victor, Redknapp said, as quoted by Liverpool.com:
“Matthijs de Ligt bounced back from a tough international week, some say that Virgil van Dijk threw him under the bus! Well, this Dutchman certainly silenced the critics with a superb goal and clean sheet! Man United needed a result. They were on a real low after being well beaten by Liverpool and their new signing stepped up to the mark.”
De Ligt has bounced back after criticism from Liverpool star
Redknapp was highly impressed with De Ligt’s performance following a difficult international break for the new Man United signing.
The Dutch defender looked solid in all aspects of the game and helped the Red Devils bounce back after their embarrassing performance against rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford.
His form is key for Erik ten Hag and the team if they want to achieve something this season.
De Ligt has all the attributes to become one of the best players in the world in his position and it is now down to Ten Hag, his manager from his Ajax days, to bring the best out of the centre-back.
