🔗 Share this article

Virgil van Dijk has delivered a blunt evaluation of Liverpool's woeful championship campaign, confessing the reigning champions are in disarray and failing manager Arne Slot while doubting whether all squad members is owning up for the current downturn.

Van Dijk could not contain his frustration after the weekend's 3-0 home defeat by Forest, a result that left Liverpool in the bottom half of the top-flight standings with a negative goal difference. The club's chair was present at Anfield to witness Liverpool’s latest loss in recent outings, their eighth loss in 11 matches across all competitions, and a display that unravelled against a opponent that began the match in the relegation zone.

“Unacceptable” Start and Defensive Lapses

Van Dijk described Liverpool’s opening after halftime as “not good enough” and admitted “anxiety set in” as soon as Murillo gave the visitors the advantage. The first goal was the ninth goal Liverpool have allowed from dead-ball situations in the Premier League this season.

“There was a great build-up to the match but in a fixture you are dealing with facts and the facts are we gave away a free-kick in the opening period and a terrible goal at the beginning after the break,” stated the defender. “As a team, we're certainly failing the manager, but we’ve disappointed ourselves as well. Start with self-reflection and then you support teammates, you help each other get out of this crisis because at the moment it is a difficult situation – that’s just a fact.

Van Dijk’s Demands: Step Up

The skipper typically addresses the media after a game as part of his role as Liverpool captain. Saturday was different, however. His voice was more forceful – so loud that any teammate in the stadium corridors could listen in – and he expressed visible fury while urging the squad to react. “You should be angry,” he emphasized. “The main thing for me is that everyone has to take responsibility.” Asked whether this is occurring, he replied: “I don’t know. But you have to do that. It’s the main thing I expect the boys to do. It’s not easy during difficult times but we have to do it if we aim to recover of this.”

Squad Investment and Team Problems

Liverpool invested almost £450m to strengthen a championship-winning team in the summer but have gone backwards, with new arrivals struggling to contribute so far. The captain maintained that Liverpool’s issues go beyond the new recruits. “It's difficult for everyone,” he said. “My expectation is for everyone to be answerable on the pitch. We have to do that in order to motivate one another, to make each other better. When someone is pressing, you must join the press. It’s basic things but they're lacking enough.”

Call for Unity

The Dutchman added: “This season we don’t have any steady form, we allow far too many goals, we are losing battles and everyone is responsible for it and I hope everyone sees that. We have to take responsibility to reverse the situation and it is easy to assign blame but you have to do it together. We have been through it together and won the league and everyone was part of it, and when you go through a challenging phase you have to stick together and not point fingers.

“Show character and confront the hardship and go again, repeatedly because if you want to give up then you are at the wrong place in my eyes, because Liverpool has been enduring many adversity over recent seasons and we’ve consistently emerged of it. However, that doesn't imply it is easy, it’s tiring but there is only one path forward.”

Looking Ahead

The upcoming match in the Premier League is a trip to West Ham next weekend, after the Champions League fixture of the Dutch side in the European competition. Van Dijk said: “The next game is another game so what am I going to do, dwell on the loss? No, I'll go home and try to think how we can turn this around and hopefully that is the collective focus as well.”