Liverpool 'nerves' lead to 'very bad' Nottingham Forest defeat, Virgil van Dijk admits | OneFootball

The Reds’ skipper held nothing back in his assessment of another heavy defeat

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said the Premier League champions were “nervous” after conceding, describing the Reds’ home defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest as “very bad” and calling for “everyone in the team to take responsibility”.

Despite starting brightly, Liverpool were made to pay for failing to capitalise on some early chances when Murillo rifled home an opener for the visitors following a corner.

But in the end it mattered little as the hosts capitulated further in the second half, conceding less than a minute after the restart and then letting in a third from a second chance shot around 10 minutes from the end.

Assessing his team’s performance, Van Dijk said Liverpool simply “concede too many easy goals”.

“The first half-hour we were good, created good opportunities - [then] they scored, obviously from a set piece again,” he said of Forest’s first goal, highlighting the Reds’ ongoing weakness at defending dead-ball situations. “You can ask if [offside Forest player Dan Ndoye] was in front of [Liverpool goalkeeper] Alisson, but it counted, so we're 1-0 down.”

Deeming it to have been a “tough day”, the Dutch defender added: “Overall, we were not good in terms of battles, challenges, the fight - too rushed. It's a very difficult situation at the moment.

Van Dijk admitted that “there was nervousness” in the Liverpool squad after they conceded the opener, “but not before”.

He continued: “We tried to rush things and that's human when you're in a 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 game, we all do it together and we need everyone at their best. Now we have to digest this and take it on the chin. We need to work harder. We have to keep going.”

Alisson Becker (R) returned for Liverpool at Anfield after seven matches out with a hamstring injury, but couldn’t stem the bleeding

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Forest won at Anfield last season by a goal to nil, handing Liverpool their only home loss of a title-winning campaign.

This time around, meanwhile, marked the Tricky Trees’ biggest-ever win at one of football’s most daunting grounds, and Liverpool’s heaviest home defeat since a 4-1 loss to Manchester City in 2021.

Despite this being the second time they’ve fallen to this opponent in as many seasons, Van Dijk was less than impressed about the manner of the Reds’ latest defeat.

"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,” he said.

“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."

Liverpool’s six defeats in seven league games is as many as they’d lost in their previous 58 outings. Two out of three defeats at Anfield, meanwhile, is as many as in the previous 53.

Arne Slot has much to ponder before Liverpool return to Champions League action during the week

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“How bad [the result is], that is difficult to measure, but it was very bad of course,” he said. “Playing at home, losing 3-0, no matter which team you face is, of course, a very, very, very bad result.

“We should all be very disappointed but we also know that in a few days, Champions League is coming up.”

Slot continued: “We conceded a set piece, and that changed the momentum and the game completely. Afterwards, we struggled a lot to find openings to find chances that we were able to find in the first half-hour.

“I tried to make a couple of changes, a couple of adjustments, but that didn’t work out the way I wanted. A big disappointment. When things go well, things don’t go well, it is always my responsibility.”