Liverpool: Virgil van Dijk hits back at Wayne Rooney over 'lazy' criticism of him and Mohamed Salah | OneFootball

The Manchester United great expressed concerns over the leadership skills of the Reds skipper and Mohamed Salah

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has slammed Wayne Rooney's "lazy" criticism of him and Mohamed Salah.

"I think body language tells you a lot, and I think we’re seeing slightly different body language from the two of them. They are the top two players in that team and if their body language is not right, that affects everyone else.

"I might be wrong on this, but if I was a Liverpool fan or the manager, that would be a big concern for me."

Van Dijk has hit back, insisting Rooney choose the easy options when looking to blame the experienced names for Liverpool's miserable form.

"I didn’t hear him last year," Van Dijk quipped, adding: "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 that everyone can say whatever they like and it gets blown up."

The Liverpool captain added: "What I have noticed over the last couple of weeks especially is that there is a lot of noise that you have no control over and that we have to deal with as a team.

"Some of those takes are absolutely ridiculous. But you have to deal with that. It’s outside noise that can reach certain players, the group. It’s about sticking together.

"And when there are difficult moments, I try to help my teammates. I try to put them in front of me and want to make them perform as in the best possible shape and then when things don’t go well then that’s the world we live in and people question loads of stuff, especially when you lose."