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Virgil van Dijk has issued a blunt evaluation of the club's woeful title defence, confessing the reigning champions are in disarray and failing manager Arne Slot while questioning whether every player is owning up for the team’s slump.

Van Dijk struggled to hold back his frustration after the weekend's heavy loss at Anfield by Nottingham Forest, a result that left Liverpool in the bottom half of the Premier League table with a negative goal difference. Tom Werner was in attendance to observe Liverpool’s latest loss in seven league games, their eighth setback in eleven fixtures across every tournament, and a display that fell apart against a Forest side that began the match in the drop zone.

“Unacceptable” Start and Defensive Lapses

Van Dijk labeled Liverpool’s start to the second half as “unacceptable” and admitted “anxiety set in” as soon as the Forest player gave Sean Dyche’s team the lead. Forest’s opener was the ninth goal Liverpool have allowed from dead-ball situations in the current campaign.

“There was a great three or four days’ preparation but in a game you are dealing with reality and the facts are we gave away a free-kick in the first half and a terrible goal at the beginning after the break,” said the defender. “As a team, we're certainly failing the manager, but we’ve disappointed ourselves as well. You look at yourself first and then you help each other, you work together to escape of this mess because at the moment it is a mess – that's the reality.

Van Dijk’s Demands: Take Responsibility

Van Dijk typically addresses the media after a match as part of his duties as Liverpool captain. Saturday was different, however. He spoke was much louder – audible enough that any teammate in the stadium corridors could hear him – and he expressed visible fury while urging the dressing room to respond. “You should be angry,” he emphasized. “The main thing for me is that each individual has to take responsibility.” When questioned whether this is occurring, Van Dijk replied: “It's unclear. But you have to do that. It’s the main thing I want the boys to do. It's challenging during tough periods but we have to do it if we want to get out of this.”

Summer Signings and Broader Issues

Liverpool invested almost £450m to strengthen a championship-winning team in the off-season but have regressed, with new arrivals struggling to contribute so far. Van Dijk maintained that Liverpool’s problems extend past the new recruits. “It's difficult for everyone,” he said. “My expectation is for everyone to take responsibility on the pitch. This is necessary in order to push each other, to make each other better. When someone is pressing, you have to follow the press. It’s basic things but they're lacking enough.”

Appeal to Stick Together

The Dutchman continued: “In the current term we don’t have any steady form, we concede excessive scores, we are being out-fought and everyone is responsible for it and I trust everyone sees that. It's vital to take responsibility to turn this around and it is easy to point fingers but you have to do it together. Past successes were collective and won the league and everyone was part of it, and when you go through a tough time you must remain united and not point fingers.

“Show character and face the toughness and persist, repeatedly because surrendering is not an option then you are in the wrong environment in my view, because this club has been enduring numerous challenges over those years and we’ve always come out of it. But it doesn’t mean it is straightforward, it’s tiring but there is no other way.”

Looking Ahead

Next up in the domestic league is a trip to West Ham next weekend, after the midweek visit of PSV in the European competition. He said: “The next game is another game so how should I respond, go home and cry? No, I’m going to return and analyze how we can turn this around and I trust that is what everyone is doing as well.”