Liverpool legend John Barnes has hit back at Wayne Rooney, as his spat with Virgil van Dijk continues to rumble on after he served up some pointed accusations on his BBC podcast.

Former England and Manchester United captain Rooney accused Liverpoolcaptain Van Dijk and his team-mate Mohamed Salah of taking their foot off the gas after they signed lucrative new contracts with the Anfield club last summer.

“Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, they’ve signed new deals but I don’t think they’ve really led that team this season,” said Rooney. “I think body language tells you a lot, and I think we’re seeing slightly different body language from the two of them.

“They are the top two players in that team and if their body language is not right, that affects everyone else. I might be wrong on this, but if I was a Liverpool fan or the manager, that would be a big concern for me.”

That sparked a heated debate between Van Dijk and Rooney when they met on the touchline after Liverpool’s Champions League win against Real Madrid last week, with the Dutch defender taking his opportunity to reject the accusation coming his way as he confronted the former striker who was working as a pundit for Amazon Prime TV.

Now Anfield icon Barnes has told Rooney was misguided with his snipes, as he spoke exclusively to Football365with Video Gamer.

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“I don’t think that’s the situation with Van Dijk,” insisted Barnes, who won two league titles with Liverpool in the late 1980s. “I don’t think there has been a dip at all for Virgil, but we have been here before with people questioning him.

“I remember after he got his knee injury (in October 2020), people were saying he is not the same player when he came back, but the reality then was the team was playing differently and the defence was more exposed. It had nothing to do with him not being as good.

“Likewise, what’s happening has got nothing to do with him signing a new contract. It’s to do with a new team coming together, new players finding a way to play in this Liverpool team and players getting used to a new country, a new league.

“People have questioned Salah as well, but has a different balance with Trent Alexander-Arnold no longer there to play behind him and it means Mo is getting fewer chances. It’s got nothing to do with new contracts.”

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Liverpool’s comprehensive 3-0 defeat at Manchester City on Sunday shone a negative spotlight onto the faltering Premier League champions once again, with former Manchester United captain Roy Keane quick to suggest this is already a crisis for Arne Slot’s team.

Yet Barnes believes Slot and his new look team were always going to need time to find their feet after a summer when the club spent ￡450m to sign some big-name players as he urged critics who have been quick to rush to judgement to hold their fire.

“It’s not a crisis, but we are going through a difficult period at this time,” stressed Barnes. “I felt we were coming out of it with the wins against Aston Villa and Real Madrid, but then we had the Man City result and people ask questions again.

“Man City played really, really well. That’s probably the best they have played all season and we lost 3-0. I don’t equate that with going back to before the Real Madrid and Villa game, when we lost five games and it was very difficult.

“I think Liverpool will get closer to where they were against Villa and Real Madrid moving forward. They are eight points off the top, not far off third place, so this is not a crisis.

“This is a new team, people are forgetting this. Five new players came in and that means it will take some time for them to understand the system and for the manager to find the right balance.

“They are playing a much more Dutch-style of football compared to Jurgen Klopp’s rock and roll brand of football. It was the same players as Klopp had last season, but Slot changed the way the team played and they won the title.

“Now we have a whole new bunch of players coming to Liverpool and it will take time for them to adapt. Arne Slot has to look at whether they can play the kind of football he wants and he needs some time to work it all out. The trouble is, no one gets time in football any more.”

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