🔗 Share this article

The Liverpool skipper has issued a scathing assessment of the club's woeful title defence, confessing the reigning champions are in a mess and failing head coach Slot while doubting whether every player is taking responsibility for the team’s slump.

The Dutch defender could not contain his anger after Saturday’s 3-0 home defeat by Nottingham Forest, a result that left Liverpool in the bottom half of the top-flight standings with a deficit in goals. The club's chair was present at Anfield to observe Liverpool’s latest loss in recent outings, their eighth setback in eleven fixtures across every tournament, and a display that unravelled against a Forest side that began the match in the drop zone.

“Unacceptable” Start and Defensive Lapses

The captain labeled Liverpool’s opening after halftime as “not good enough” and admitted “panic kicked in” as soon as the Forest player gave Sean Dyche’s team the lead. Forest’s opener was the ninth goal Liverpool have conceded from a set piece in the current campaign.

“There was a great build-up to the match but in a fixture you are facing facts and the facts are we gave away a set piece in the first half and a terrible goal at the beginning after the break,” said Van Dijk. “As a team, we're certainly letting him down, but we’ve let ourselves down as well. You look at yourself first and then you support teammates, you work together to escape of this mess because at the moment it is a mess – that’s just a fact.

Van Dijk’s Demands: Step Up

Van Dijk typically addresses the press after a game as part of his duties as team leader. This time was distinct, however. His voice was more forceful – so loud that any teammate in the Anfield tunnel could hear him – and he expressed visible fury while challenging the squad to respond. “You should be angry,” he insisted. “The main thing for me is that each individual has to be accountable.” Asked whether that is happening, he replied: “It's unclear. But it's essential. It’s the main thing I expect the players 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 £450m to strengthen a championship-winning team in the summer but have gone backwards, with several high-profile signings failing to make an impact so far. Van Dijk maintained that Liverpool’s problems go beyond the new recruits. “It's difficult for everyone,” he said. “My expectation is for each player to take responsibility on the pitch. This is necessary in order to push each other, to make each other better. When someone is pressing, you have to follow the press. These are fundamentals but they're lacking enough.”

Appeal to Stick Together

Van Dijk added: “This season we lack any steady form, we allow excessive scores, we are being out-fought and everyone is responsible for it and I trust everyone sees that. We have to take responsibility to turn this around and tempting to assign blame but unity is essential. We have been through it together and claimed the title and all contributed, and when you go through 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 in the wrong environment in my view, because Liverpool has been going through many adversity over those years and we’ve always come out of it. However, that doesn't imply it is straightforward, it’s exhausting but there is only one path forward.”

Next Fixtures

The upcoming match in the domestic league is a trip to West Ham next Sunday, after the midweek visit of PSV in the European competition. Van Dijk said: “The next game is another game so what am I going to do, dwell on the loss? Certainly not, I'll return and try to think how we can improve results and hopefully that is what everyone is doing as well.”