Virgil van Dijk has called Wayne Rooney’s criticism of him and Mohamed Salah this season “lazy” and has hit out at “ridiculous takes” during Liverpool’s recent run of bad form.

Rooney, talking on his BBC podcast, had said there had been a lack of leadership from the Liverpool captain and Salah this season and that their body language had not been right. From late September to late October, Liverpool lost six times in seven games, including at home to Manchester United and away to Crystal Palace.

Van Dijk has responded to the former United and England striker yet admitted some criticism does get to his teammates. The Liverpool captain said of Rooney: “I didn’t hear him last year. It doesn’t hurt me. Just to come back to this particular player, obviously a legend, a big player of the game who inspired so many, I can say only positive things, but I feel that comment is just a bit of a lazy criticism. It’s easy to blame the older players but he knows as well as everyone else that we do it together and try to help each other to get out of this. There are so many platforms nowadays...