Virgil van Dijk has urged his Liverpool teammates to “stay humble and improve ASAP,” after a fourth loss in a row which he believes came from a “very sloppy goal.”
“We conceded a very sloppy second goal,” was Van Dijk’s verdict as he spoke to Sky Sports following Liverpool’s 2-1 loss to Man United.
“We worked so hard to get back into the game, we created opportunities to score the winner, but if you concede a second goal like that, that’s the disappointing part.”
The goal in question was Harry Maguire’s late headed winner, but it was one Liverpool deserved after another listless performance to make it four defeats in a row for the first time in almost 11 years.
“I think overall if you look at the game we were far too rushed,” the captain continued.
“We were making wrong decisions at times and those were also the moments where we were open if we lost the ball. Disappointing day.”
Van Dijk described it as “an interesting time” in which Liverpool “have to stick together,” while explaining that this extended beyond the players and staff.
“Not only us as players, but together with our fans and everyone who wants us to win,” he stressed.
Quite how they can turn things around is not so simple, with a ridiculous array of talent but seemingly not concrete plan for how best to utilise it.
But Van Dijk’s message to his teammates is simple: “Keep working, stay humble and improve ASAP.”
“First and foremost stay humble and stay working. Try and keep your confidence as high as possible,” he explained.
“Obviously when you lose your confidence could drop a little bit, but it’s about staying very calm.
“We’ve been coming from a season where everything was unbelievable, everyone was praising everyone and positive, we became the champions and everyone was cheering for us as well.
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“When things get tough it’s important that we keep that same mentality of being there for each other. It’s still a long season.
“It’s easy to get dragged into a negative spiral. But it’s down to us to keep working, stay humble and improve ASAP when you’ve got the opportunity to show your quality and win games.
“We also have to put things into perspective: we’re in October now, so many twists and turns can happen.
“But the reality is we have four defeats in a row now and we want to turn it around ASAP.”
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