Virgil van Dijk brutally called 'Van Disney' for his role in Arsenal's goal against Liverpool

Virgil van Dijk has been hit with 'Van Disney' remarks following his role in Arsenal's opening goal against Liverpool.

Gabriel Martinelli ran through on goal and poked home to make it 1-0, with fans wasting no time in slamming Van Dijk's part in the goal.

He made a mess of Martin Odegaard's attempted pass to Bukayo Saka before failing to intercept the Brazilian, who made no mistake in front of goal.

MARTINELLI! 🇧🇷

What a start! Arsenal LEAD at Anfield! 💪 pic.twitter.com/oZXQzciHkf

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 9, 2023

Fans on social media ruthlessly trolled the Dutch defender, calling him 'Van Disney' after Liverpool conceded a soft goal against the league leaders.

One Twitter user wrote: "Van Disney assisting Martinelli’s goal this guy is HORRIBLE how did we let them get away with calling him the best defender in the world."

A second tweeted: "Van Disney defending is comedy."

A third added: "They compared Van Disney to SERGIO RAMOS."

A fourth said: "Van Disney is well and truly washed."

Another joked: "What an assist by Van Disney."

Supporters also took aim at Van Dijk for Arsenal's second goal as he was nowhere near Gabriel Jesus, who headed home to double his side's lead.

Much like the rest of the team, the 31-year-ol has been way off the pace this season and has drawn criticism for his performances for club and country.

Speaking after Liverpool's Champions League elimination to Real Madrid, Rio Ferdinand told BT Sport: "I think there are phases in your career where things don’t go to plan. But you look at the great centre-halves in years gone by, John Terry, Jaap Stam, Vidic, Kompany, Sol Campbell...the list goes on.

"I don’t remember those having a season off, or big periods of the season where they had eight or nine games where they were struggling. But the form of the team has an affect on that. That’s the one thing I will say, sometimes you need a team performing around you, and he hasn’t had a team performing around him in a way that would suit his style of play."