Virgil van Dijk has said Liverpool lacked fight during the club’s disappointing 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest at Anfield.
Liverpool lost for the sixth time in seven games as the Premier League champions sank to a new low on Saturday. Goals from Murillo, Nicolo Savona and Morgan Gibbs-White sealed an emphatic win for Forest, who had begun the afternoon in the relegation places.
Having started the season with five straight wins, the champions have been in free fall. Their latest defeat sees the Reds drop to 11th in the table, eight points behind leaders Arsenal, having played a game more.
The manner of the loss to Forest will further ring the alarm bells on Merseyside, with Van Dijk critical of his side’s defending and lack of ‘fight’. However, the Dutchman has insisted Liverpool will put in the work to come through ‘a very difficult moment’.
Speaking to Premier League Productions, he said: “We concede too many easy goals. They scored obviously from a set piece again. You can ask if he was in front of Alisson, but it counted, so we’re 1-0 down. We were not good in terms of battles, challenges, the fight, too rushed. It’s a very difficult situation at the moment.
“There was nervousness after we conceded, but not before. We tried to rush things and that’s human when you’re in a difficult moment. We cleared the ones before and in the end, we’re in a very difficult moment. We don’t get out of it by just speaking about it. It will take a lot of hard work.
“It’s a problem. Everyone in the team has to take responsibility as well. Football is a team and everyone has to take responsibility. We have to digest this and take it on the chin. We need to work harder. We have to keep going.
“Everyone is disappointed, like they should be, because losing at home to Nottingham Forest is, in my eyes, very bad. That’s the least I can say about it. Those goals we conceded are far too easy and we all have to look in the mirror. I’ve been at this club so long now and we’ve been through adversity. We will bounce back but it doesn’t happen overnight. I’m not a quitter and we will keep going.
“I can’t decide what the supporters are doing if they leave early. I know the fans have been through thick and thin with us. They will be there with us when we come out of this because we will come out of this.”
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