Virgil van Dijk slammed by Netherlands legend for mistakes 'never seen before'

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has come in for criticism for his form throughout the 2025-26 season, and now one of his country's biggest soccer legends has had his say

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has struggled this season(Image: 2026 Getty Images)

Netherlands legend Ruud Gullit has criticized Virgil van Dijk over his performances this season.

Van Dijk has been widely recognized as one of the best center-backs in the world over the last decade, but he has faced questions from some quarters about his form during the current campaign. Liverpool's No. 4 came in for some flak for his role in Bournemouth's opening goal against the Reds two weeks ago, and Gullit said that he expects more from his compatriot.

“I have been critical of Virgil van Dijk several times, because he’s the Liverpool captain,” he said. “Put it this way, if there is an orchestra where the violinist is not performing well, I’m not going to scream at the violinist, I’m going to be pointing the finger at the director.

"He is in front of his performers and is responsible for when something goes wrong.

"I rate Van Dijk very highly, but he has made a lot of mistakes this season, with a lot of strange errors like the handball against PSV Eindhoven and the miskick at Bournemouth.

"These are things that I’ve never seen before from him.

"I really hope that Van Dijk sees and addresses these errors, knows that he has not been playing well, and can return to his best soon."

Ruud Gullit questioned Van Dijk's form(Image: Jose Breton/NurPhoto)

Van Dijk, meanwhile, said earlier this week that Liverpool simply hasn't been good enough during its title defense this season, but insisted that the squad remains united as it looks to put things right.

Van Dijk said: "The matter of fact is, we are Premier League champions, and we have not been good enough on a consistent basis. That's just a fact.

"The criticism comes, and that's something we just have to accept. We just have to keep going.

"I don't think there has been any question about [togetherness] internally. I don't think there's any disharmony.

"There are obviously challenges that happen and everyone is dealing with certain situations in a different way.

"It's also about dealing with it together and how we are going to fix it and change things around.

"That's something that makes you stronger as a team and if you come out of it like we should do hopefully as we have the quality then I think it can only improve you as a team and as a player as well."