Virgil van Dijk branded ‘sloppy’ despite the Netherlands’ victory over Romania

Virgil van Dijk was criticised before the Netherlands’ game against Romania at Euro 2024.

Virgil van Dijk was slammed for his performances at Euro 2024 before inspiring the Netherlands to the quarter-finals of Euro 2024.

The Netherlands recorded four points in Group D, having beaten Poland, drawn against France and lost to Austria.

They qualified for the last-16 as one of the best third-placed teams.

Despite securing a spot in the next round of the tournament, Ronald Koeman’s team have come under fire for their showings in Germany.

In particular Dutch captain Van Dijk, who was ruthlessly criticised by Raphael van der Vaart following their 3-2 defeat to Austria.

What Virgil van Dijk did when asked by reporters to comment on Netherlands’ defeat to Austria
Credit: HaytersTV

And before the Netherlands’ clash against Romania on Tuesday, former Newcastle United and Leeds United defender Didier Domi pulled no punches as he called out Van Dijk’s outings at the Euros.

The Frenchman claimed the Liverpool star’s ‘not focused and aggressive’ before calling him ‘sloppy’.

On beIN SPORTS, he exclaimed: “He’s not focused, he’s not aggressive, he’s out of position and he’s sloppy.”

Domi added: “He needs to lead the way. Your attitude needs to be absolutely one hundred percent. I know you can make mistakes, but not a mistake of commitment, motivation, positioning and determination for someone of this standard.

“They will need their captain and leader at the best.”

Virgil van Dijk in action for the Netherlands. Image: Getty

Domi’s assessment of Van Dijk came before the Netherlands beat Romania 3-0.

Cody Gakpo opened the scoring to bring up his third goal of the tournament as second-half substitute Donyell Malen bagged a brace after coming on.

Speaking after their impressive display, Van Dijk said: “We were very solid defensively. We should have scored more goals, we can be proud of ourselves.”

Before finding out their quarter-final opponents, he added: “We shouldn’t let them surprise us again. But let’s see who we will face, Turkey is a difficult opponent.”

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Of course, Turkey knocked out Austria following their 2-1 victory.

The Netherlands vs. Turkey goes down on Saturday.