🔗 Share this article

The Liverpool skipper has delivered a blunt assessment of the club's disappointing championship campaign, admitting the title holders are in a mess and letting down manager Arne Slot while doubting whether every player is owning up for the team’s slump.

The Dutch defender struggled to hold back his anger after the weekend's 3-0 home defeat by Nottingham Forest, a result that left Liverpool in the lower section of the Premier League table with a negative goal difference. The club's chair was in attendance to observe Liverpool’s latest loss in seven league games, their eighth setback in eleven fixtures across all competitions, and a performance that unravelled against a Forest side that started the day in the drop zone.

“Unacceptable” Start and Defensive Lapses

The captain labeled Liverpool’s opening after halftime as “unacceptable” and admitted “anxiety set in” as soon as Murillo gave Sean Dyche’s team the advantage. Forest’s opener was the ninth concession Liverpool have allowed from dead-ball situations in the current campaign.

“We had a great build-up to the match but in a game you are facing reality and the facts are we gave away a set piece in the first half and a poor concession at the beginning after the break,” said Van Dijk. “As a team, we're certainly failing the manager, but we’ve let ourselves down as well. You look at yourself first and then you help each other, you work together to escape of this crisis because at the moment it is a mess – that’s just a fact.

Van Dijk’s Demands: Take Responsibility

Van Dijk typically addresses the press after a game as part of his role as Liverpool captain. Saturday was different, however. He spoke was more forceful – audible enough that any player in the Anfield tunnel could listen in – and he shook with anger while challenging the dressing room to respond. “You should be angry,” he emphasized. “The key point for me is that each individual has to take responsibility.” Asked whether that is happening, he answered: “It's unclear. But you have to do that. That's crucial I expect the boys to do. It's challenging during tough periods but we have to do it if we want to get out of this.”

Squad Investment and Broader Issues

The Merseyside club invested almost £450 million to strengthen a championship-winning team in the summer but have regressed, with new arrivals struggling to contribute so far. The captain insisted that Liverpool’s problems extend past the recent additions. “It’s tough for all involved,” he said. “My expectation is for everyone to be answerable on the field. This is necessary in order to push each other, to improve collectively. When someone is pressing, you have to follow the press. It’s basic things but it’s not happening enough.”

Appeal to Stick Together

Van Dijk continued: “In the current term we don’t have any consistency, we concede far too many goals, we are losing battles and all share the blame for it and I hope everyone sees that. We have to accept duty to reverse the situation and tempting to point fingers but unity is essential. We have been through it together and claimed the title and everyone was part of it, and during a challenging phase you have to stick together and not point fingers.

“You have to be a man and confront the hardship and go again, again and again because if you want to give up then you are at the wrong place in my view, because this club has been enduring many adversity over those years and we’ve always come out of it. But it doesn’t mean it is straightforward, it’s tiring but there is only one path forward.”

Looking Ahead

Next up in the domestic league is a trip to West Ham next Sunday, after the Champions League fixture of PSV in the European competition. Van Dijk commented: “The next game is another game so what am I going to do, go home and cry? Certainly not, I’m going to go home and try to think how we can turn this around and hopefully that is what everyone is doing as well.”