Captain Virgil van Dijk questioned Liverpool’s desire after they were thrashed 3-0 by Nottingham Forest at Anfield this afternoon.
The pressure ramped up on boss Arne Slot with his side capitulating to their sixth defeat in seven Premier League games thanks to goals from Murillo, Nicolo Savona and Morgan Gibbs-White.
Liverpool are now 11th in the table and Van Dijk admits it’s not good enough.
Van Dijk annoyed by sloppy Liverpool
The Netherlands international told PLP: “We concede too many easy goals. 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 don’t get out of it by just speaking about it. It will take a lot of hard work.”
Liverpool host PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday and Van Dijk is looking for a better display.
He added: ”It’s a problem. Everyone in the team has to take responsibility as well. Football is a team game 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.”
It’s on me says Slot
Slot suggested his side lost their early self-belief after falling behind to Murillo’s goal.
“Another big disappointment,” he admitted. “We started off quite well for the first half an hour. We conceded the 1-0, and we weren’t able to play the way we did in the first half hour.
“We created and were waiting for us to score a goal. The set piece changed everything, and they scored two.
“If things go well or things go bad, it’s my responsibility. We weren’t able to create enough. I tried to adjust a few things, but it didn’t work out. We were unable to score a goal. You never know in this stadium, if you score a goal, then things can work out.”
Savona’s strike within a minute of the restart set Liverpool back further and the home fans were streaming towards the exits long before Gibbs-White compounded their misery.
“Of course, it was damaging,” Slot said of Forest’s second goal. “It was already hard to be 1-0 against a team blocking everything.
“In a few days, we have to play in the Champions League again and then play three Premier League games in a short space. Keep your head up and work incredibly hard. We are trying every single day.
“It’s always helpful to have experienced and quality players. It’s not working out at this moment.”
