Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has called for players to get serious, stating that this season will be very difficult to succeed. He said this after Liverpool lost three consecutive matches and slipped to second place in the table. Liverpool lost their last two English Premier League matches and a UEFA Champions League match. “I always say the same thing. We need to be very serious. This season will be very difficult (to succeed). Not just because of the results on the field. Many things are happening off the field as well. That’s why this season will be challenging for us,” Van Dijk said.
Under his captaincy, Liverpool won the Premier League in the previous season. And for this season, Liverpool has spent more than ever before in preparation. They spent nearly 500 million pounds. However, Liverpool hasn’t achieved the expected results so far. Van Dijk said that even though they lost three matches, no one should forget that Liverpool are the Premier League champions. “We are the champions. Defending the title is not easy. But it’s not impossible either. We need to improve our team play. If we can do that, it will be easier for us to progress,” Van Dijk said.
Liverpool’s coach Arne Slot has also spoken about this matter. He said that Liverpool rarely gets a free kick or penalty to win a match. “But Chelsea and Arsenal seem to get that opportunity in almost every match,” the coach said. He also mentioned that due to the schedule of playing in different tournaments, they only have the have the opportunity to correct mistakes made in one match through video analysis. He urged supporters not to be discouraged by losing just three matches.
“We haven’t fallen asleep for the latter part of the season. We will improve things. For example, look at (Spain’s) Atletico Madrid. They started the season very poorly. But now they have become very strong. They have even started winning matches. So we shouldn’t view things negatively just because of these losses,” the coach said. After last night’s loss to Chelsea, the most recent champion Liverpool has fallen to second place in the table. Arsenal, who finished second in the last three seasons, is now in first place.
