Virgil van Dijk has delivered a brutal assessment of Liverpool’s disastrous title defence, admitting the squad is “in a mess” and questioning whether his teammates are taking enough responsibility.
The Liverpool captain spoke out after a humiliating 3–0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest, a result that left the reigning champions in the bottom half of the Premier League with a negative goal difference. It marked their sixth loss in seven league games and eighth defeat in 11 matches across all competitions.
Van Dijk labelled the team’s second-half performance “unacceptable” and admitted “panic kicked in” after Forest took the lead from a set piece — Liverpool’s ninth such goal conceded in the league this season.
“We are definitely letting [Arne Slot] down, but we’ve let ourselves down as well,” he said. “At the moment it is a mess – that’s just a fact.”
Speaking with visible anger in the Anfield tunnel, Van Dijk challenged teammates to respond, insisting everyone must take responsibility. When asked if that was happening, he replied: “I don’t know.”
Despite spending nearly £450m on new signings in the summer, Liverpool have regressed. Big-money additions such as Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong have yet to make an impact, but Van Dijk stressed the problems go beyond new arrivals.
“We don’t have any consistency, we concede far too many goals and we are losing battles,” he said. “You have to be a man, face the toughness and go again and again.”
Liverpool face PSV in the Champions League midweek before travelling to West Ham next Sunday. Van Dijk made it clear he won’t give up.
“What am I going to do, go home and cry? No. I’m going to think how we can turn this around.”
