Van Dijk goes nuclear in Liverpool rant as accusations fly and Slot defends selection blunder | OneFootball

Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk did not hold back as he launched a scathing assessment of his side’s embarrassing 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, while Arne Slot answered questions over what fans perceived as a major selection blunder.

The Reds now sit 11th in the Premier League after suffering their sixth defeat in the league this season, with their title defence in tatters after a home humbling engineered by former Everton boss Sean Dyche.

And, speaking after the game, a frustrated Van Dijk called on his Liverpool teammates to look in the mirror in order to turn around the club’s form.

The 34-year-old Dutchman also emphasised he was not a quitter but admitted that bouncing back will not happen overnight for Slot’s struggling side in a brutal assessment of where they currently are as a team.

“We concede too many easy goals,” Van Dijk said. “They scored obviously from a set piece again. You can ask if he was in front of Alisson, but it counted, so we’re 1-0 down. We were not good in terms of battles, challenges, the fight, too rushed. It’s a very difficult situation at the moment.

“There was nervousness after we conceded, but not before. We tried to rush things and that’s human when you’re in a difficult moment. We cleared the ones before and in the end, we’re in a very difficult moment. We don’t get out of it by just speaking about it. It will take a lot of hard work.

“It’s a problem. Everyone in the team has to take responsibility as well. Football is a team and everyone has to take responsibility. We have to digest this and take it on the chin. We need to work harder. We have to keep going.

“Everyone is disappointed, like they should be, because losing at home to Nottingham Forest is, in my eyes, very bad. That’s the least I can say about it.

“Those goals we conceded are far too easy and we all have to look in the mirror. I’ve been at this club so long now and we’ve been through adversity.

“We will bounce back but it doesn’t happen overnight. I’m not a quitter and we will keep going.

“I can’t decide what the supporters are doing if they leave early. I know the fans have been through thick and thin with us. They will be there with us when we come out of this because we will come out of this.”

Arne Slot responds after being called out by Liverpool fans

Meanwhile, Slot defended his decision to start creative force Dominik Szoboszlai at right-back again in the loss to Forest, despite the Hungarian being the club’s standout midfielder this season.

Fans were unhappy that Szoboszlai was not used in the No.10 role, especially given the absence of former record signing Florian Wirtz, with Slot instead opting to start Curtis Jones in the Liverpool engine room.

In fairness to Slot, he was hampered in the right-back position, with Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong both sidelined, while he also declared that Joe Gomez was not fit enough to start.

And, speaking after the Forest clash, he spoke about his decision to pick Szoboszlai over Gomez in the problem position, telling reporters: “We had to start the game with a midfielder at right full-back because both of our full-backs are injured.

“Joe Gomez is also a player who can play there but hasn’t trained the whole week. I don’t think he was fully ready to start this game.

“When you’re 2-0 down it’s not, in my opinion, really necessary to bring in a defender. Normally you prefer, at least that’s what I also do, you prefer to bring in players that can score a goal.”

Slot’s men also barely looked like scoring and, asked if his players are becoming too nervous in front of goal, the Dutchman replied: “I don’t think so yet. It’s difficult for me to feel what they feel. But if I look at the way we finish these chances, I don’t see a player that’s lacking confidence or is hesitating.

“For example, the one for Macca [Alexis Mac Allister], I think he hits it perfectly but [it was] defended perfectly as well. No, I don’t think that’s an issue.

“But it’s difficult for me to judge because I’m not there in that moment. The only thing I can see is that we do create and the finishing is as expected, but the blocks and the saves are also of quality.”

First up, Trent Alexander-Arnold regrets turning down the chance to sign a new contract from Liverpool and staying at Anfield and is not happy at Real Madrid, according to a Spanish report, but TEAMtalk analyses why this notion has to be treated with more than just a pinch of salt.

Elsewhere, Real Madrid attacking midfielder Arda Guler has a poor opinion of Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai despite interest from Los Blancos, according to a report in the Spanish media, as Fabrizio Romano’s revelation about the midfielder’s future comes to light.

And finally, even though Manchester United are in talks to bring Karim Adeyemi to Old Trafford in the January transfer window, a report has revealed that he would prefer to move to Liverpool and work under Arne Slot, with Real Madrid also a club that he would like to join.