Virgil van Dijk 'English referee' fume is no surprise - Liverpool captain has been wronged before

Virgil van Dijk fired a subtle yet noticeable dig at the standard of English refereeing after Netherlands’ 0-0 draw with France on Friday night.

The Dutch saw Xavi Simons controversially have a goal ruled out in the 68th minute after it was adjudged that Denzel Dumfries was in an offside position and impeded goalkeeper Mike Maignan - even though the Frenchman made no effort to dive to save the shot.

Referee Anthony Taylor initially disallowed the goal after speaking to assistant referee Adam Nunn. The decision then went to VAR, with Stuart Attwell agreeing it was the right decision to chalk off the goal after a lengthy delay.

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READ MORE: 'English referee' - Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk fumes after 'fair goal' disallowed

The decision has received plenty of backlash as football supporters once again question the quality of officiating in England and the Premier League. After a season littered with a number of high-profile errors across the English top-flight, which ended with Wolverhampton Wanderers putting in an official motion for VAR to be scrapped, eyebrows were raised at the sight of English officials being caught at the heart of the most controversial officiating decision at Euro 2024 so far.

"A bit of a disappointment… Disappointment because we scored a goal that is a fair goal,” Van Dijk insisted after the game. “He (Maignan) had no chance to get into that corner.

“But yeah, the English referee decided to disallow it… From what I have seen, the goal should have been allowed.”

Netherlands boss, former Everton manager Ronald Koeman, was equally frustrated at the call.

"I think the position of Dumfries is offside, that's true, but he isn't disturbing the goalkeeper and when that happens, then it's a legal goal," Koeman said.

"You need five minutes to check it because it's so difficult? I don't understand. He's not disturbing the goalkeeper. I think the goal should have stood.

"I asked the referee, and he said it was offside, but I saw the clip about the offside. And after that, I have my opinion about the legal goal, but that was in the dressing room."

Former Liverpool striker Neil Mellor would point the finger of blame purely at Attwell when taking to social media after the game, posting: “Anthony Taylor did well last night in a big game. He was let down badly by his mate on var. Stuart Attwell is not a good official for me and somehow gets a call up to be at euros!”

Van Dijk’s aggrievance with English officials comes as no surprise, considering some of the incidents that have occurred in his Liverpool career to date.

In the last season alone, Luis Diaz had a goal wrongly disallowed for the Reds against Tottenham Hotspur for offside after VAR review, despite the officials ruling it should have been given, Meanwhile, there were also incorrectly not awarded a penalty against title-rivals Arsenal for a handball by Martin Odegaard in their 1-1 draw at Anfield.

Meanwhile, it won’t be lost on the Liverpool captain that when he suffered a serious ACL injury against Everton back in 2020 following a knee-high tackle in the box from goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, the Reds were not awarded a penalty and the shot-stopper wasn’t even booked for the foul.

Van Dijk also has recent history with Attwell on VAR duties, with the official having been the man responsible for his controversial red card issued against Newcastle United last August.

The Dutch defender was dismissed by referee John Brooks for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity, after challenging Alexander Isak on the edge of the Liverpool penalty area and preventing the Swede the chance to test Alisson inside the box.

Replays suggested Van Dijk made contact with the ball before the Swedish forward, though VAR officials Attwell and Constantine Hatzidakis reviewed the footage and were content with Brooks' original call. The only way this could have been overturned was if the pair determined a 'clear and obvious' error had been committed by their colleague.

VAR audio of the incident was later released by the Premier League, as Attwell said told Brooks: “OK, it's a clear foul. Brooksy, it's Stuart, I'm happy with the foul. I'm just going to check sanction and APP, standby.

“Ok, so I'm happy with that being... .freeze it there, freeze it there. OK, so the ball's going to roll across the front of him. Without the moving challenge, the attacker's got position. He's moving directly into the penalty area, that's fine."

Van Dijk’s furious on-field reaction to the incident, where he initially refused to leave the field and appeared to call the decision a 'f**king joke', saw him charged by the FA as he was handed an additional one-game ban and fined £100,000 after admitting to behaving in an "improper manner".

Later reacting to punishment, he said at a press conference when away on international duty: “It has been a hard and expensive lesson. I can’t really say more about it. I have accepted it and I am happy that there is an end to it.”

While disappointed and frustrated, the Dutchman can at least claim lesson learned, with his dig at English officials certainly not enough to earn any punishment for himself.

Attwell was involved in further controversy concerning Liverpool later in the season when again on VAR duties as the Reds drew 1-1 at home to Man City in March. Jurgen Klopp’s side felt they should have had a stoppage-time penalty for a chest-high challenge on Alexis Mac Allister in the box by Jeremy Doku, but the officials thought otherwise.

“Headed for me. Possible foul on defender… Checking possible penalty,” Attwell said in released VAR audio. So there's clear contact on the ball by Doku.

“Yeah, so he plays the ball, they both come in high. I don't think there is enough evidence for a penalty kick. He plays the ball.

“He's definitely touched it. Mac Allister's then coming into his space. Mac Allister turns his back to him. It's a coming together."

While Howard Webb and the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) would stand by Attwell’s decision-making on both occasions, Liverpool and Van Dijk understandably still felt aggrieved.

Consequently, the Dutchman has now made his thoughts on English officiating perfectly clear after the Netherlands’ disallowed goal vs France, even when saying very little at all. Van Dijk will be disappointed by the latest controversy but not surprised.