Virgil Van Dijk’s damning four-word statement reveals depth of Liverpool crisis | OneFootball

For the first time in six decades, Liverpool has suffered consecutive defeats in league games by three goals. Alexander Isak is the first Liverpool player to lose on each of his first four Premier League starts for the club. And Virgil van Dijk had his own damning verdict, even if it drew less on statistics and more on a broader sense of their malaise. “At the moment, it is a mess,” said the Liverpool captain. “That’s just a fact.”

Others might call it a crisis, but Van Dijk’s chosen description was revealing enough. Still more so was his analysis of his side’s shortcomings after a run of six defeats in even league games. The Dutchman can excel in downplaying things, whatever the result. He speaks a lot, but he is not always outspoken. He was this time. The most laidback of defenders said: “You should be angry”.

Van Dijk implied some of his teammates were too selfish, accusing individuals of putting themselves before the team. He criticised them for their defending and their attitude alike. He said Liverpool have forgotten to do the basics. He stated the result of a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest was “unacceptable” and suggested their whole run has been.

This is a mess of Liverpool’s own making. They did not spend £450m to get this much worse, this quickly. Van Dijk painted a picture of a team who are weaker, both physically and mentally, than last season which, in turn, may be an indictment of their expensive additions. “It’s easy to point fingers,” Van Dijk said. While he named no names, some digits might have been waved in certain directions.

“This season we don't have any consistency, we concede far too many goals, we are losing battles and everyone is responsible for it and I hope everyone sees that,” he said. The use of “hope” – rather than, say, “know” – felt instructive; it indicated Van Dijk is not certain.

“The main thing for me is that everyone has to take responsibility,” he added. Do they? “I don't know,” came the reply. “But you have to do that. It's the main thing I want the boys to do. It's not easy during difficult times, but we have to do it if we want to get out of this.

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Liverpool are in a poor run of form (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire)

Van Dijk felt Liverpool were overpowered by Forest. “In terms of the battles, challenges, second-ball fights, we were just too rushed,” he said. In different ways, physicality has been an issue this season: either with players who are not fully fit, such as Alexander Isak, or those who are injured, or a lack of height, a particular problem at set-pieces, or data showing they have been outrun by opponents in seven of their last eight league games.

Van Dijk is part of a defence who have been breached 20 times in the Premier League. “We are conceding far too many goals,” he said. Too many, he had already stated, were “easy”. He was aggrieved by the reaction to Murillo’s opener on Saturday. “We were a threat, but then we conceded and panic kicks in,” he said. Nicolo Savona’s strike 40 seconds after the interval further irritated him. “The way we started the second half was just unacceptable,” he added.

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Manager Arne Slot insists he is responsible for Liverpool’s poor form (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire)

He suggested, too, that Liverpool are too easy to play against, in part because some are not committed enough to the team. “What I want is for everyone to take responsibility on the pitch,” he said. “We have to do that in order to push each other, to make each other better. When someone is pressing, you have to follow the press. It's basic things, but it's not happening enough. We have to get back to that. It's easy to maybe just think about your own situation rather than the collective side when things not going well.”

Head coach Arne Slot said he took the blame for defeats. Van Dijk argued the players should accept their share of it. “We are definitely letting him down, but we've let ourselves down as well,” he said. “You look at yourself first and then you help each other, you help each other get out of this mess because at the moment it is a mess – that's just a fact. As the champions, we can't be in the situation we are in right now, but it's a fact. What are we going to do about it? We're going to try to turn it around and that's the mentality everyone should have.”

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(Getty Images)

It is PSV Eindhoven next for a side with three home defeats in five weeks. “Wednesday is another game, so what am I going to do, go home and cry?” Van Dijk said. “No, 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.”

Which, he knows, could be difficult. “This club has been going through adversity over the years, and we've always come out of it, but it doesn't mean it is easy,” he added. Van Dijk struck a defiant tone. “I'm not a quitter. I will never quit. I will keep going, but it doesn't mean it isn't tough to take.” And that may be another fact.