Virgil van Dijk cut a frustrated figure as he made his disappointment in Liverpool’s performance in defeat to Chelsea clear.
The Reds’ first game as Premier League champions did not go according to plan as they fell to a 3-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge. Goals from Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer, as well as a Jarell Quansah own goal, saw Liverpool fall to a third league defeat of the season.
Despite Van Dijk’s late goal giving the visitors some hope, in truth, the result never really looked in doubt from the moment Fernandez opened the scoring. Liverpool looked to still be suffering from a hangover following last weekend’s celebrations after securing the title.
With their crown already wrapped up, Arne Slot rung the changes in London, with six tweaks made from the decisive win over Tottenham.
The Liverpool boss had made his intentions to give some of his fringe players an opportunity clear in the build-up to the game, although the move didn’t seem to have the desired effect.
Nevertheless, Van Dijk reiterated to his teammates the cost that dropping their levels can have.
“I think possession was quite good, but when we didn’t have the ball the pressing wasn’t great and they could find between the lines,” Van Dijk told Sky Sports.
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“To concede that early is not great, but if we start to play the way we want to play then we can create chances. There were chances for us to score – in the end they deserve the win. That’s the disappointing thing as we came here to win.
“Obviously we tried, but it wasn’t great.
“The way we trained, the sharpness that we had, everyone was ready for it.
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“We know it was going to be tough at times. We could have done better in the way we defended as a team, but we will analyse it tomorrow and prepare for the next game.”
Giving his thoughts on Chelsea, Van Dijk added: “They rotate a lot.
“Moises Caicedo plays as a right-back, but he’s a midfielder. They try to rotate a lot, it needs a lot of communication and yes, you know, there will be difficult moments and defeat hurts.
“We are very fortunate that we didn’t lose that many games in the league and this hurts. And it should hurt.
“Even when the job is done we came here to try get a good result. It has to hurt. I’m definitely disappointed.”
