Virgil van Dijk has admitted Liverpool’s performance against Fulham was “unacceptable” and claimed defensive “sloppiness” cost the team.
The Reds lost 3-2 at Craven Cottage on Sunday, suffering just a second league defeat of the season and ending their 26-match unbeaten run in the Premier League. A succession of errors at the back cost Liverpool against Fulham, as Arne Slot’s team went in trailing 3-1 at the break despite taking the lead after 14 minutes via Alexis Mac Allister.
Van Dijk was culpable for the third goal as Rodrigo Muniz eased him out of the way and then fired beyond Caoimhin Kelleher on an off-day for the entire back five. The Liverpool skipper admitted post-match that it was a disappointing performance from the team, but rejected suggestions the disjointed display was down to a structural issue.
“I think there are individual moments that should have been dealt with better,” said the Liverpool skipper. “Now, obviously, in games these moments can happen, but I think it was very unnecessary.
“No-one can always be perfect so you have sloppy moments now and then. Obviously, today we got punished quickly and then it’s a difficult battle to play. We still had the belief, we still have opportunities, but based on the first half I don’t think you can argue with the result whatsoever.”
On the overall performance, Van Dijk added: “It was down to us being sloppy and letting them score three goals. It was unacceptable as a team, but we had obviously another 50 minutes in the second half to try and turn it around and that was the focus. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do it and it was a poor day at the office for all of us.”
Liverpool blew the chance to move 14 points clear at the top of the table on Sunday, with the gap remaining at 11. The team now needs just 10 more points from the last seven games to confirm its status as champions and Van Dijk underlined the importance of finishing the campaign strongly.
“What is key now, there’s seven games left, starting obviously on Sunday against West Ham at home. We have to go all in as a club with the players, with the fans, and try to get the three points.
“We know how tough the Premier League is; everyone is difficult to beat. We’ve done a great job so far, but there’s still seven games to go and we have to keep going, keep fighting and work our socks off.
“We’re in a very good position but games like today, especially the first half, show that the job is not done. I have been saying every week that that’s definitely within our group, the mentality that we know that the job is not done. But now we have to just recover from this, physically, mentally, and then put our eyes on West Ham at home.”
Van Dijk is hopeful Alisson will be available for next week’s game after missing the last two, despite being pictured in training last week. The goalkeeper suffered a serious head injury during the recent international break and failed to pass the concussion protocol before the trip to Fulham, but Slot said the seven-day gap to West Ham could see him make a full recovery.
“Hopefully he’s back soon, but obviously these things are dangerous and the most important thing is for him to be healthy and come back safe,” Van Dijk told reporters, when asked about his goalkeeper. “Obviously we see him every day but he doesn’t have the green light yet if I’m correct. So we’ll wait for that.”
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s numbers were boosted on Sunday with the return of Conor Bradley from a two-month injury layoff.
“I think everyone that can come back and help us try and win games is very important,” Van Dijk opined. “We know how important the whole squad is, so it’s good to see him coming back and hopefully you can stay fit now and be important until the end of the season.”
