Ex-Chelsea star Craig Burley labels Virgil van Dijk a 'coward' in extraordinary rant

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Craig Burley launches an angry tirade after the Liverpool captain appeared to be at fault for Sunderland's goal at Anfield that ended up earning the visitors a pointAs the Liverpool squad’s leader, captain and spokesman, Virgil van Dijk has not been afraid of self-criticism. In the main, his central defensive partner Ibrahima Konate and big-money left-back Milos Kerkez have been under the most scrutiny.READ MORE: Mohamed Salah's Liverpool future in doubt as fans resigned over Egyptian's fateREAD MORE: Sir Alex Ferguson's message to Liverpool board about Arne Slot's future after dire runBut, in emphatic fashion, that has now changed with one TV pundit labelling Van Dijk a “coward”.

And in an astonishing tirade, ex-Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley has claimed Van Dijk “has been as bad as anybody else” during Liverpool’s difficult spell.Burley, speaking on ESPN, said: “I’m fed up sitting here and (listening to people saying) ‘it’s Mo Salah not playing well, Florian Wirtz can’t find his feet, Alexander Isak, Ekitike, the midfield's dynamic has changed’. Every game, you could watch him and go … ‘what’s he doing?’.”Van Dijk gave the ball away for Sunderland’s goal at Anfield on Wednesday, with Chemsdine Talbi’s shot then taking a decisive deflection off the Liverpool skipper.

And Burley was scathing of Van Dijk’s contribution, saying: “He does everything wrong. He (Van Dijk) seems to be coming out of it relatively unscathed, and it is everybody else’s fault.“But for me, at the back, he has been as bad as anybody else.