Marco van Basten has gone in on Virgil van Dijk (which seems to be the trend for ex-players these days) for not contributing enough to the build-up play for Netherlands.
“It is actually very strange that such a good player does so little for the Dutch national team in the build-up."
Meanwhile, he heaped praise on his defensive partner Jurrien Timber:
“Timber is a really good builder. Ajax really started to play well because of this man, and so did the Dutch national team. It is really thanks to him that we play so easily from the back. He is really a top player.”
In Netherland's most recent win against Belgium, Van Dijk was the highest rated player as per Whoscored.com:
He also had a higher pass success ratio than Timber in this game, while also winning more aerial duels.
