Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk and head coach Arne Slot have come out with some harsh home truths after a miserable 2-1 defeat away at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Heading into this Premier League clash at Molineux, Liverpool would have been full to the brim with optimism and confidence that they would get the better of their bottom-of-the-table hosts in their bid to finish inside the coveted Champions League positions.
Last season, as Slot side romped home to the title, they would have come here and put in a professional performance to win.
Unfortunately, there are far too many chinks in their armour as of late, as a 2-1 loss suffered on the road means the reigning top-flight champions have now lost a dire nine games all season long.
Understandably so, the mood was bleak at the full-time whistle inside the Reds camp, while Rob Edwards was jumping for joy, occupying the opposing touchline.
What Slot had to say after the defeat
Amazingly, that is the fifth time this season that Liverpool have lost a closely fought contest in the 90th minute, as Slot continues to curse his side’s wretched luck.
The former Feyenoord boss would bemoan his team’s passive performance in the first half when speaking to TNT Sports post-match, as he cut a rightly frustrated figure.
He said: “Like you said, bad result. Far from good first half. Second half there was a bit more urgency.
“We were getting closer and closer to scoring a goal, but then conceded probably the first moment they arrived in and around our box.
We immediately struck back, first by hitting the post, afterwards Mo [scoring]. We were twice close making the winner, with Mo Salah once on the counter-attack and with Virgil [van Dijk]’s header.
“In the end we conceded a deflected shot which wasn’t even a chance. Of course [it’s frustrating], even more because we know how hard we have to work to score a goal.
Recently we’re mainly scoring from set-pieces. We create enough chances but find it quite hard to convert those chances into goals. Conceding two is too much to get a result.”
The Premier League-winning boss will pray his team can immediately bounce back from this terrible setback when returning to the scene of the crime on Friday night, with Virgil Van Dijk also very critical of his side’s unassertive showing when speaking to the media post-match.
Van Dijk’s hard-hitting comments
Van Dijk, by his lofty standards, endured a torrid night, as he was unusually caught out for Rodrigo Gomes equaliser.
He didn’t hold back when judging his team’s overall drop-off in standards, when commenting on the surprise loss to TNT Sports.
The Liverpool captain honestly summed it up by stating: “I think it’s down to ourselves. It was slow, we were predictable, sloppy in possession and wrong decision-making.
We didn’t concede chances, but if you perform like that, then a result like this can be a result of that, and that’s a fact. It was disappointing.”
The lacklustre defending on display will come as a slight shock, considering Liverpool had opened February with three clean sheets on the spin.
Van Dijk acknowledged the frustrations in the air at the avoidable nature of the goals conceded, with the experienced veteran prepared to right the wrongs with a more polished showing at the close of the week.
He concluded: “Conceding goals is always frustrating. We’ve come on the back of a couple clean sheets. Defensively, we’ve been very solid.
But it is what it is, and we have to move quickly on because we come back here in a couple of days and we want to do well in the FA Cup.”
Liverpool must not let this harrowing defeat get to them too much, however, as clashes continue to come thick and fast for Slot’s men, in the FA Cup and Champions League, alongside their gruelling league schedule.
