Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk offers a brutally honest assessment of the 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest, detailing the “elite mentality” required to overcome VAR drama and how a second-half tactical shift spared the Reds blushes at the City Ground.
Liverpool’s relentless pursuit of perfection under Arne Slot looked to have hit a major speed bump at the City Ground, only for Alexis Mac Allister to provide the ultimate 97th-minute winner.
In a match that threatened to be defined by a contentious VAR intervention, the Reds showed the “elite mentality” their captain later hailed, securing a 1-0 win and a third consecutive clean sheet.
It was a victory forged in the fires of frustration, moving Slot’s side level on points with fellow Champions League chasers Chelsea and Manchester United.
Drama at the death: from VAR fury to stoppage-time glory
The final ten minutes in Nottingham provided enough drama for an entire season. Liverpool thought they had broken the deadlock in the 89th minute when Alexis Mac Allister bundled the ball home after Ola Aina’s attempted clearance.
However, the celebrations were cut short; a forensic VAR review judged the ball had struck the Argentine’s elbow before crossing the line.
Refusing to let the “harsh” decision derail them, the Reds pushed deep into seven minutes of added time. The winner finally arrived through sheer persistence.
Dominik Szoboszlai, showing immense composure in the dying seconds, recycled a ball into the box. Virgil van Dijk’s presence caused chaos, and as the ball dropped, Mac Allister was the sharpest man in the area to poke home from point-blank range
The opening 45 minutes were, by the captain’s Virgil van Dijk own admission, a slog. The visitors lacked the usual zip in possession, often falling into the traps set by a disciplined Forest side buoyed by their own midweek successes in the UEFA Europa League. While the defensive line held firm, the lack of punch further up the pitch was glaring.
“It feels definitely nice to win here. It’s a very difficult ground, in my opinion, to come,” the skipper told the club’s official website. “A very poor first half from all of us with and without the ball. I think you saw the desire to not concede, that was obviously maybe the only positive thing. I think in the second half we turned it around and we were much more comfortable on the ball and without the ball as well.
“We know Forest can be dangerous from set-pieces and the quality they have with the confidence they had from their midweek win. I think we did well, especially in the second half. At the end it’s just a great feeling to win and be on the good side of a late winner for once in a long time.”
Tactical tweaks and midfield mastery
The second half saw a marked shift in tempo. The introduction of more fluid “triangles” in the middle of the park allowed the side to bypass the initial press and find the wingers in dangerous one-on-one scenarios.
Even without the creative spark of Florian Wirtz who watched from the sidelines as he continues his recovery the pressure began to mount.
While Hugo Ekitike will likely be rueing a missed opportunity that seemed certain to break the tie, the persistence eventually paid off. The captain noted that the improvement was a mix of better decision-making and sheer physical effort.
“It’s a combination of that [bravery], I think. Obviously, it all starts with winning your battles, winning the challenges and when you have the ball make the right decisions. It’s not always easy to do that, especially in a first half where a lot of players are still fresh and they run and they press and go one-v-one and if you are late in challenges or in possession or lose the ball too easily then they create momentum.
“We did that much better in the second half and we found our triangles; we rotated well in the middle and had our wingers a lot of times in the one-v-ones. I don’t think we created real clear-cut chances, but obviously Hugo [Ekitike]’s was massive and he should have scored. In the end we got the winner and that’s the most important thing.”
Handling the VAR heartbreak
The narrative could have been very different. Moments before the actual winner, Mac Allister had already found the net, only for a handball in the buildup to be spotted by the VAR officials. In seasons past, such a blow might have deflated a side. Instead, it seemed to act as a catalyst.
The eventual breakthrough came from a recycled set-piece—a quality delivery from Dominik Szoboszlai finding the captain, who remained composed enough to ensure the play stayed alive for the Argentine midfielder to pounce.
“Yeah, 100 per cent [it was elite mentality]. The game isn’t over until it’s over. We have the quality to decide games, and we needed a couple of long throws from Joey [Gomez], but in the end that ball from Dom [Szoboszlai] was quality, I was just onside and Macca just had to finish it off, so happy days.”
The pursuit of perfection
As the squad prepares for the visit of West Ham United this weekend, the message from the dressing room remains one of grounded ambition. Slot has them winning, but the players are under no illusions that they have reached their ceiling yet.
“We want to play our best football, and I think at times in the games we are definitely doing that. But obviously we are still looking for improvement and we are not perfect. We are human beings and we want to do our best for the club.
“We want to be performing on the absolute highest level, and we need each other at their best and it’s a process, but we keep going and focus on the next one. It will be another difficult one at the weekend again [versus West Ham United], so onto the next.”
It’s becoming a hallmark of the Slot era: even when the gears aren’t quite clicking and the first half feels like a slog this group finds a way to move the dial.
With the clean sheets piling up and the “elite mentality” the skipper spoke of firmly back in the DNA, the focus shifts to the visit of the Hammers.
There is, as always, work to be done and “improvements” to be found on the training pitch. But as the away end emptied into the Nottingham night, the message was clear: this side doesn’t know when it’s beaten. In a top four race where the margins are razor-thin, that might just be the most important quality of all.
