Virgil van Dijk provides verdict on Arne Slot after Liverpool’s struggles | OneFootball

Liverpool scrutiny reaches boiling point

Liverpool do not do quiet crises. When results dip, the noise grows quickly, and this season the volume has been impossible to ignore. Sitting sixth in the Premier League and having won just six of their last 19 league games, Liverpool have drifted from contenders to question mark. The disappointment has sharpened the focus on Arne Slot, a manager who only recently delivered a Premier League title in his first season and now finds himself navigating a very different mood.

Virgil van Dijk, speaking to Gary Neville for Sky Sports, did not attempt to dress it up. “The criticism we are getting this season is deserved.” It was a line that carried both honesty and authority, the voice of a captain who understands standards and consequences at a club like Liverpool.

Van Dijk sets clear boundaries

Yet Van Dijk was careful to draw a line, and it mattered. “But you have criticism and you have disrespect.” In that distinction sits the wider issue around Liverpool right now. Analysis of performances is fair game. Questioning intensity, structure, or decision making comes with the territory. What the defender was pushing back against was the rush to personalise failure, to frame a difficult campaign as proof that Slot is suddenly the wrong man for the job.

Liverpool have looked short of confidence and cohesion, particularly away from home, where leads have been surrendered and games have slipped. That feeds frustration, and frustration often looks for a single target. Van Dijk’s point was that this is not how Liverpool traditionally operate.

Arne Slot and institutional patience

“I don’t think Liverpool is a club that makes rash decisions. He [Slot] deserves respect and the chance to make it right.” The words were deliberate. Slot arrived with a clear tactical identity and immediate success, and one poor season does not erase that foundation. Liverpool’s history underlines this. Stability has usually been rewarded, panic rarely has.

Slot’s challenge now is as much psychological as tactical. Injuries, form dips and the weight of expectation have combined into a season that never quite caught fire. Yet Liverpool remain within touching distance of the Champions League places, and the margin between sixth and fourth is hardly insurmountable.

Photo: IMAGO

Leadership when Liverpool wobble

Van Dijk’s intervention matters because it signals unity at a time when Liverpool could easily splinter. Captains speak when silence becomes dangerous, and this was one of those moments. The message was simple. Accountability is accepted, standards remain high, but respect is non negotiable.

Liverpool have rebuilt before, often in public and under pressure. Whether this season becomes a footnote or a turning point depends on what follows. For now, Van Dijk has framed the debate in the right place, demanding perspective in a city that rarely lacks passion.