Virgil van Dijk hit back strongly at the media gathered in Zeist on Wednesday morning. The Netherlands captain first clashed with Noa Vahle, then with Maarten Wijffels, Martijn Krabbendam and Valentijn Driessen.
Van Dijk first snapped back at Vahle. He told her it is "complete nonsense" that it was his idea to play with five defenders against Morocco at the World Cup. According to Van Dijk, her colleagues had "suggested" that last summer.
Following tetchy exchanges with Wijffels and Krabbendam, Driessen then stepped in with a strong opener.
"Virgil, this is a bit of a chore, isn’t it? You’re a bit grumpy today. Normally you’re quite a nice bloke," began De Telegraaf’s football editor.
"Sometimes things need to be said. I can’t just keep listening to that whining all the time," Van Dijk replied. "But you can also just be open, can’t you? You’re being super curt," Driessen shot back.
"This isn’t a conversation here. You just have to ask a question at the press conference," Van Dijk then responded. Driessen: "You’re being curt. You can just respond, can’t you?"
"I have no problem with a lot of media and never have done, but when nonsense is being thrown out into the world, what am I supposed to do with that?" Van Dijk then responded.
Driessen argued that Van Dijk should speak to the media responsible for those nonsense rumours. "Aren’t I talking to them now then?" said the Liverpool captain before the conversation was cut short.