Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said the atmosphere after the team’s 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest was “very bad”.
Liverpool have suffered two consecutive defeats by three goals in recent weeks, and have lost six of their last seven Premier League games, leaving them in the bottom half of the table.
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Highlights of the Premier League match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
“It’s a very difficult situation at the moment,” Van Dijk said. “We conceded too many easy goals. The first 30 minutes were really good and we created some really good chances. Then they scored again from a set piece. You might ask yourself if he was in front of Alisson, but it was important.”
“There was some tension after conceding the goal. You could feel they were trying to rush things, trying to score the equalizer as quickly as possible. Overall we weren’t good. We rushed too much in terms of fighting, challenges and second balls.”
“We are in a very difficult period right now and we have to get out of this situation. I would rather solve it by talking in the dressing room than by talking to you all.
“We have to take responsibility. Football is a team game. We have to digest this, accept it and try harder. As I have said many times this season, things have not gone well, but we have to keep moving forward.”
“From my perspective, the atmosphere is very bad. I have to look in the mirror.”
Morgan Gibbs-White scores Nottingham Forest’s third and final goal at Anfield.
Michael Dawson echoed the Liverpool captain’s concerns on Saturday’s Soccer show, saying: “It looks like we’ll need a miracle to get close to Arsenal at the end of the season. We lost four games in the Premier League all last season.”
“Van Dijk has the task of getting the confidence and belief back in some of the players. As soon as they were behind, the confidence was sucked out of them. Van Dijk looked hurt.”
Slots accepts responsibility for poor management
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Liverpool manager Arne Slott reflects on yet another Premier League defeat.
It was Forest’s biggest win at Anfield in the club’s history and their first clean sheet in 20 games. Liverpool head coach Arne Slott said he was not interested in making excuses and was focused on finding solutions.
“Losing 3-0 at home is a very bad result,” he said. “Watching the first 30 minutes it was unexpected. I haven’t seen us create this much all season, but we were able to create a lot. When you create a lot of chances and then every time you concede one you allow the opponent to score, it’s a very difficult cocktail to drink.”
“Whether we win or lose, it’s up to me. We were a dominant team, but recently we were always missing chances and conceding goals.
“Of course, there are solutions because we have quality players. I take responsibility for the loss now. I can’t think of a good enough excuse for a result like this. It’s far from good enough and the responsibility for that is mine.”
Regarding the controversial opening goal, Slott said: “After the game, people say he was in an offside position. We have to recover from that. When you’re losing 3-0, no one wants to hear me talk about the referee’s decision. But it shows how a goal can change the game.”
