Arne Slot has defended Virgil van Dijk after the Liverpool captain faced criticism over his leadership from Wayne Rooney. The former Everton and Manchester United striker claimed last month that he did not think Van Dijk had properly captained the Reds this season.

The Liverpool skipper hit back at the remarks, branding them "lazy", though Rooney has stuck to his guns. The pair then thrashed out their disagreement at Anfield following Tuesday night's 1-0 Champions League victory against Real Madrid.

Rooney remains unmoved on his stance. Nevertheless, he did admit that suggesting Van Dijk had stopped trying after penning a fresh deal was harsh.

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Slot addressed Van Dijk's captaincy during Friday's press conference. He explained: "I've picked captains at my former clubs where the age of the players was much younger.

"Maybe not completely because they were already the leader of the team, but hoping that it could help them become a leader of the team. But with Virgil, it's so clear that he's the leader of this team.

"When you walk through the AXA [training centre], when we start the training session. You can hear him, you can feel he's our leader.

"He's already been so important for this club for so many years, but I don't think I've had many captains who were so vocal, so loud as he is. He's been a very good captain for me, and since he became the captain of this club.

"He sets the bar at 10 out of 10, and when he has a nine out of 10 [performance], he sometimes gets criticised, too. I think other players will get compliments for a nine out of 10, but he gets criticised for that.

"He has had similar form to last season," Slot continued with Sky Sports. "But there were one or two moments this season where he could have done better defensively.

"And he got criticised by that straightaway. Maybe he should see it as a compliment - because that's where he set the bar from."

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