Virgil van Dijk has given his take on criticism of Liverpool head coach Arne Slot and his team while dismissing any notion of disharmony
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk with Hugo Ekitike and Ibrahima Konate
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk with Hugo Ekitike and Ibrahima Konate(Image: Stu Forster/Getty Images)
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It was a fitting end to an emotional Anfield evening. And as the Liverpool players, including Alisson Becker, rushed to congratulate Ibrahima Konate on the goal that capped victory over Newcastle United on Saturday, it highlighted a squad that remains united despite the problems of such a difficult season.
Virgil van Dijk, though, is not surprised. "I don't think there has been any question about that internally," he said. "I don't think there's any disharmony.
"There are obviously challenges that happen and everyone is dealing with certain situations in a different way.
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"It's also about dealing with it together and how we are going to fix it and change things around. That's something that makes you stronger as a team and if you come out of it - like we should do hopefully as we have the quality - then I think it can only improve you as a team and as a player as well."
The injury-time strike from Konate that sealed a 4-1 win came on his first appearance after choosing to help an injury-hit defence by returning early from compassionate leave following the death of his father last month.
"He was outstanding," said centre-back partner Van Dijk. "I'm very proud of him, the performance before the goal was outstanding in my opinion and for him to then get the cherry on top with the goal, it was written in the stars.
"We've had two good performances, good energy, good atmosphere inside the stadium. It's something to build on. The fans certainly played a big part too. It felt very familiar."
Certainly, Anfield has stirred during the past week with Arne Slot's side having three days earlier sealed a top-eight Champions League berth and progressed directly to the last 16 with a 6-0 thrashing of Azerbaijan champions Qarabag.
Nevertheless, with Liverpool still in sixth place in the Premier League despite just one defeat in their last 16 games in all competitions, the scrutiny remains ahead of Sunday's seismic visit of second-placed Manchester City.
And Van Dijk has no issue with the criticism of Liverpool's campaign despite the club's supporters having long gained a reputation for showing patience with their team.
"No, no, no," he said. "The matter of fact is we are Premier League champions and we have not been good enough on a consistent basis. That's just a fact. The criticism comes and that's something we just have to accept.
"No-one is perfect, no player is perfect and no manager is perfect. But the good thing is for us as managers and players is that we are in my eyes at the most beautiful club in the world at Liverpool and we can show our quality every three or four days.
"That's a privilege. We have to just go for it and embrace it."
Slot in particular has attracted fierce abuse from sections of the online fanbase, although Van Dijk has sought to qualify such criticism.
"Who gives him the disrespect? That's the question," he said. "Is the disrespect being given by people that we shouldn't value their disrespect?
"I can also think about players being disrespected, and who disrespects the players? Is that someone you value, is it a significant show of disrespect or someone you can just let slide and instead just focus on the task ahead to be successful as a Liverpool player?
"It's like us players as well - if you don't perform you get criticism and that's part and parcel of the game. We have to perform. That's what we didn't do on a consistent basis but we speak about that every three or four days unfortunately."
Of the impact of social media, Van Dijk added: "If you're going to read all that stuff, one week you could be the hero and the next week the villain.
"I spoke last week about how worse and more difficult it's getting every year. Every era has its own challenges and that part of outside the game will be a big challenge for the next generation, and it's already a challenge for this generation."
Assessing Liverpool's underwhelming Premier League title defence, Slot last week insisted he should only be properly judged at the end of the season with the Reds still in the FA Cup and Champions League.
And Van Dijk said: "That's normal as that's the board, the people making the decisions behind the scenes. We get judged every game because I remember a lot of things being said after Bournemouth and then a few days later other things being said and now there'll be other things.
"For us as players we have to perform, as the manager he is responsible for us performing. But he can't really do the work on the pitch - we (the players) are there. But we all know how football works.
"Saturday was a very good performance, 1-0 down and winning 4-1 against a very good opponent who is always difficult. To do that in the way we did it I'm very proud of the team. Now it's down to us to work this week on Man City and do that again."