Vergil van Dyke (32, Liverpool안전놀이터) is a first-class coward. If it were me, I would take the captain’s armband away from him immediately.”
The British ‘The Sun’ reported on the 29th (Korean time) that “Van Dyke has been branded as a ‘first-class coward’. Some people are even claiming that the captaincy should be removed.”
Van Dijk is a recognized world class defender. He even reached second place in the Ballon d’Or in 2019. ‘Monster Defender’ Kim Min-jae also recently picked him as a role model, saying, “I’m trying to learn from Van Dyke’s play. He has abilities that I don’t have. He overcomes well even in 2v2 or unfavorable situations.”
I heard such an insulting accusation that Van Dyke was a coward. It started with a crushing defeat in France. The Netherlands kneeled 0-4 to France in the first round of Group B of the European Football Federation (UEFA) European Football Championship (Euro) 2024 group stage held at the Stade de France in Paris, France on the 25th.
The Netherlands faltered by conceding a goal to Antoine Griezmann in the second minute of the game, and gave up another goal to Dayo Upamecano six minutes later. In the 21st minute of the first half, Kylian Mbappe scored a key goal and collapsed. In the end, the Netherlands allowed multiple goals to Mbafe at the end of the second half and suffered the humiliation of a 4-goal loss.
Anger was directed at Van Dyke. Twente and Feyenoord coach Gertjan Verbeek appeared on Dutch TV show Omrop Fryslan and slammed Van Dijk, saying, “I think Van Dijk is a first-class wimp. If it were me, I’d take the captain’s armband away from him immediately.”
Verbeek said, “Van Dijk needs to show more value as a captain. He has to give up what he has.” Was there?” he raised his voice.
Marco Van Basten also criticized Van Dijk for not being assertive. “Van Dyke makes noise, but he doesn’t say something. A good argument thinks out loud and makes clear what’s going on. But he creates chaos,” he said. You need to insist. Van Dyke doesn’t give clear instructions, he just makes a lot of noise.”
Van Dyke also opened his mouth. He responded to Van Basten’s criticism by saying, “It doesn’t do any good to me. Everyone can have their own opinion these days. Did I raise the bar unrealistically?” “Of course, it’s part of football and it’s very human. You know better than anyone whether you’re doing the right thing or not.