'Painful' - Virgil van Dijk criticized for Netherlands display by Dutch media

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Liverpool has four Dutchmen in its squad, and all of them started in the Netherlands' World Cup qualifier against Malta on Thursday. Dutch outlet De Telegraaf awarded 7/10 ratings to both Gakpo and Gravenberch, stating that the former played a "key role" in the win and describing the latter as "by far the best midfielder for the Dutch team." Virgil van Dijk was handed a 6/10, and the assessment of his performance was fairly critical from writer Wilber Hack, who said he made a "near-fatal error" in the first half, and also criticized the Liverpool captain for showing "too little initiative." Jeremie Frimpong, who has had a slow start to life at Anfield, received a 5/10.

After a good move, he often doesn't know how to follow it up." Algemeen Dagblad's ratings were quite similar to De Telegraaf's, with Gravenberch also receiving a 7/10 from that outlet. Gakpo received a slightly kinder 7.5/10, while Frimpong and Van Dijk swapped places, with Frimpong getting a 6/10 and Van Dijk getting a 7/10.

Writer Mikos Gouka pointed out that Gakpo's brace drew him level with Ruud Gullit in the Netherlands' all-time top scorer charts: Gakpo now has 17 goals for his country. Cody Gakpo scored twice against Malta (Image: 2025 UEFA) As for Van Dijk, he received further criticism for his error early on in the game, when his attempted pass to goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen ended up at the feet of Malta's Joseph Mbong instead.