The defending Premier League champions lost another game in their title defense season, this time to fierce title rivals Manchester City, and Virgil Van Dijk has called on his team to be more consistent.
Arne Slot’s team was outplayed in their visit to the Etihad by Pep Guardiola’s men and ended up leaving the game having lost by three goals. The goals were scored by the Premier League Golden Boot race leader Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez, and Jeremy Doku.
This marked another sharp bend in their path, which will take them some time and effort to right as they look to defend their title. Van Dijk, Liverpool’s captain, believes that his side’s lack of consistency is the reason they are having to deal with these twists and turns on the road to their title defense.
“I think obviously the first half was difficult. They were much more comfortable on the ball in terms of creating an extra overload in the back with Bernardo [Silva] dropping a lot,” the Dutch defender said.
“It was difficult for our front guys to get the pressure on them, but I still don’t think there was a lot of danger. Obviously Doku played a fantastic game, so it was difficult for Conor [Bradley] at times in the one-on-one. I still think we weren’t much in trouble.”
“We could’ve done better, of course, especially in possession. Obviously then the decisions and the penalty and the momentum shifted more to their side, and we had to dig deep. In the second half we obviously get a little bit more momentum in possession, but our pressing was just not good enough.”
“The way we did it as a team should’ve been better. Like I said before the game, it’s finding consistency and keeping going. Losing always hurts, like it should be, for each and every one of us, but 3-0 especially. Now we go to our countries, stay fit, and be ready for a big run after that.”
Van Dijk was a victim of the VAR in the game, as he saw his goal that could have sparked a comeback ruled out. The captain chose not to comment seriously on the issue.
“In football there are obviously key decisions,” he said when asked about his thoughts on the VAR decision. “That obviously happens, and the officials are deciding this, and we have to deal with it on the pitch – both teams.”
“I think there is no point to discuss this from my point of view. The reality is that we lost here 3-0, and that is a big blow, definitely.”
