Liverpool's Premier League title defence has evaporated already and the defeat by Nottingham Forest showed the seriousness of the problems Arne Slot must address
Virgil van Dijk and teammates of Liverpool look dejected
Virgil van Dijk's team were well beaten by Nottingham Forest(Image: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
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Nottingham Forest’s fully deserved win at Anfield on Saturday brought the perfect opportunity for Liverpool’s leaders to front up. Forest were the better team as they inflicted the sixth defeat in the last seven Premier League matches on woeful Liverpool.
Out came Arne Slot and Virgil van Dijk and so began a competition to take responsibility for the 3-0 thrashing at the hands of a team who hadn’t won away from home all season. Van Dijk went first. "Everyone in the team has to take responsibility as well. Football is a team and everyone has to take responsibility,” the Liverpool captain said. “We have to digest this and take it on the chin. We need to work harder. We have to keep going.”
Then it was Slot’s turn. "If things go well or things go bad, it's my responsibility,” the under-fire manager said. “We weren't able to create enough. I tried to adjust a few things, but it didn't work out. We were unable to score a goal. You never know in this stadium, if you score a goal, then things can work out.”
And then, in an interview with the print media, Van Dijk responded to his manager’s comments. “In terms of letting him down we are definitely letting him down but we’ve let ourselves down as well,” he said.
“You look at yourself first and then you help each other, you help each other get out of this mess because at the moment it is a mess. That’s just a fact. As the champions we can’t be in the situation we are in right now but it’s a fact. What are we going to do about it? We’re going to try to turn it around and that’s the mentality everyone should have.”
That’s an awful lot of fronting up and responsibility taking. So if you’re keeping count, that is 1-1 for Slot and the players. The Liverpool boss feels he has not been getting it right with his selections, tactics and substitutions of late. The Liverpool captain feels the players simply aren’t delivering what’s been asked of them.
Where does the truth lie? As is so often the case, it lies somewhere in the middle. Van Dijk is never going to throw his manager under the bus, but Slot undoubtedly deserves to shoulder plenty of the blame for Liverpool’s shambolic title defence. The Dutchman had some involvement in the summer splurge in the transfer window and he is the one determining the team and how they approach games.
Arne Slot could soon be under pressure after Liverpool's eighth defeat of the season
Arne Slot has huge issues he needs to address
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It was Slot who picked Alexander Isak to start over Hugo Ekitike on Saturday. It is he who continues to play Liverpool’s most dynamic midfield threat, Dominik Szoboszlai, out of position at right-back, rather than trust Joe Gomez to step into the boots of the injured Conor Bradley. It was Slot who chose Milos Kerkez over Andy Robertson at left-back and who replaced Ibrahima Konate with Ekitike as they chased the game.
But many of Van Dijk’s criticisms were also valid. He bemoaned Liverpool getting the basics wrong, of Forest “physically winning so many battles against us” and of players not pressing as a unit to try and win the ball back. He also knows better than anyone that the centre-back pairing of himself and Konate is struggling.
There are lessons to be learned on both sides. If he is going to persist with Isak – which is understandable, given he cost £125million – Slot needs to find a way to get the best out of him, because at the moment he’s a peripheral figure. He needs to get Mohamed Salah involved more.
Arne Slot and Liverpool players look on
Liverpool are in crisis under Arne Slot with their title defence in tatters
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On the other side, perhaps Van Dijk needs to lead another team meeting, like the one that came a month ago after the 2-1 defeat by Manchester United. As he said himself: “We have been through it together and won the league and everyone was part of it and happy and when you go through a tough time you have to stick together and not point fingers.”
Fronting up is the easy part. Now Liverpool need to come together and fix things, because, with games coming thick and fast, it’s not going to get any easier.
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