Van Dijk rubbishes revolt talk
LIVERPOOL. — Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has hit back at a journalist for claiming he is leading a player revolt against the appointment of Louis van Gaal as the new Netherlands boss.
Despite some promising performances in the group stages of Euro 2020 — netting eight times in their first three games — Holland exited the competition in disappointing fashion after a 2-0 defeat to Czech Republic in the last 16.
Shortly afterwards, manager Frank de Boer elected to leave his position, saying the pressure placed on him as manager of the national team was “not a healthy situation”.
Despite retiring from coaching, Van Gaal has emerged as the leading candidate to take over from De Boer in what would be his third stint as manager of the Oranje. But a recent report from the Mirror claimed the links with Van Gaal had led to a revolt in the Dutch dressing room, alleging that skipper Van Dijk and vice- captain Gini Wijnaldum were leading the backlash.
It was suggested that some players wanted former Chelsea assistant Henk ten Cate to be placed in charge instead, but Van Dijk has absolutely blasted the report.
Taking to Twitter on Saturday night, Van Dijk called out the journalist who wrote the article and made it clear in no uncertain terms that it was a complete fiction to suggest he was opposed to Van Gaal’s potential appointment.
“This story is completely false,” wrote the 30-year- old, quote-tweeting the offending story and tagging the reporter in his post.
“It’s never been more important for journalists to tell the truth and not just make stuff up. Shame on you Mr Simon Mullock.” Van Dijk missed this summer’s European Championships as he was still recovering from the ACL knee injury he sustained last year, though he is now in the latter stages of his rehabilitation.
The former Southampton and Celtic defender has been taking part in pre-season training with the rest of the Liverpool squad and even uploaded a clip of him doing ball work recently as he shared his excitement for the season ahead.