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Virgil van Dijk has issued a scathing assessment of Liverpool's woeful championship campaign, admitting the reigning champions are in disarray and letting down head coach Slot while doubting whether every player is taking responsibility for the team’s slump.

Van Dijk struggled to hold back his frustration after Saturday’s 3-0 home defeat by Forest, a result that saw the Reds in the bottom half of the top-flight standings with a negative goal difference. Tom Werner was in attendance to witness Liverpool’s latest loss in recent outings, their eighth loss in eleven fixtures across every tournament, and a performance that unravelled against a Forest side that started the day in the relegation zone.

“Unacceptable” Start and Set-Piece Woes

Van Dijk described Liverpool’s opening after halftime as “unacceptable” and admitted “panic kicked in” as soon as Murillo gave Sean Dyche’s team the advantage. Forest’s opener was the ninth concession Liverpool have conceded from a set piece in the current campaign.

“There was a great build-up to the match but in a game you are facing facts and the facts are we gave away a set piece in the first half and a terrible goal at the beginning after the break,” stated Van Dijk. “As a team, we're definitely letting him down, but we’ve let ourselves down as well. Start with self-reflection and then you support teammates, you work together to escape of this mess because at the moment it is a mess – that’s just a fact.

Captain’s Challenge: Step Up

Van Dijk usually speaks the media after a match as part of his duties as Liverpool captain. Saturday was different, however. He spoke was more forceful – audible enough that any teammate in the stadium corridors could listen in – and he expressed visible fury while urging the squad to respond. “Anger is justified,” he emphasized. “The key point for me is that everyone has to take responsibility.” When questioned whether this is occurring, he replied: “It's unclear. But you have to do that. That's crucial I want the players to do. It's challenging during difficult times but we have to do it if we aim to recover of this.”

Summer Signings and Team Problems

The Merseyside club spent almost £450 million to strengthen a title-winning squad in the summer but have gone backwards, with new arrivals failing to make an impact so far. The captain maintained that Liverpool’s issues extend past the new recruits. “It’s tough for everyone,” he said. “What I want is for each player to be answerable on the field. This is necessary in order to motivate one another, to improve collectively. When someone is pressing, you must join the effort. These are fundamentals but it’s not happening enough.”

Appeal to Stick Together

The Dutchman added: “In the current term we don’t have any consistency, we allow far too many goals, we are being out-fought and all share the blame for it and I hope everyone sees that. We have to take responsibility to turn this around and it is easy to point fingers but unity is essential. We have been through it together and claimed the title and all contributed, and when you go through a challenging phase you have to stick together and not point fingers.

“Show character and confront the hardship and go again, again and again because if you want to give up then you are at the wrong place in my eyes, because this club has been enduring numerous challenges over recent seasons and we’ve consistently emerged of it. However, that doesn't imply it is straightforward, it’s tiring but there is only one path forward.”

Next Fixtures

Next up in the domestic league is a trip to West Ham next weekend, after the midweek visit of the Dutch side in the European competition. He commented: “The next game is another opportunity so what am I going to do, dwell on the loss? No, I'll go home and try to think how we can improve results and I trust that is what everyone is doing as well.”