Virgil van Dijk said Liverpool’s players are letting manager Arne Slot down after the Premier League champions’ collapse continued with a 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Liverpool have lost six of their last seven league games to slide to the bottom half of the table, putting pressure on Slot following the club’s record spending of almost £450 million ($590 million) in the transfer market.
“We certainly let him (Slot) down, but we also let ourselves down,” said Van Dijk.
“You look at yourself first and then you help each other, you help each other get out of this mess, because right now it’s a mess – that’s just a fact.
«As champions, we can’t be in the situation we’re in right now. What are we going to do about it? We’re going to try to turn the tide, and that’s the mentality everyone should have.»
Alexander Isak, who cost a British transfer record £125m, is yet to score a league goal for the Reds and looked a shadow of the player he was at Newcastle during the ineffective 68 minutes against Forest.
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But many of last season’s title winners have also suffered a dip in form, with Van Dijk’s centre-back Ibrahima Konate also replaced early by Slot after another poor performance.
«What I want is for everyone to take responsibility on the field. We have to do that to push each other, to make each other better,» said Van Dijk.
“We went through it together and won the competition, and everyone was part of it and happy, and when you’re going through a hard time you have to stick together and not point fingers.
“You have to be a man and face the difficulty and go again and again because if you want to give up then in my eyes you are in the wrong place because this club has had a lot of adversity in recent years and we have always come out of it.”
Liverpool’s form in the Champions League was much better, with three wins from four games.
The return to European competition could provide some relief for Slot’s men when PSV Eindhoven visit Anfield on Wednesday during Liverpool’s next outing.
Published on November 23, 2025
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