Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk insists his side are looking forward to getting back to winning ways as they host bitter rivals Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday.
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It’s cliche but there probably isn’t a better game for Liverpool have to snap themselves out of the bamboozled malaise they find themselves in at the start of the season.
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After losing three-straight games in all competitions before the international break, Liverpool are no longer top of the Premier League table and Arne Slot — who has never lost three games in a row as a manager before — has struggled to find the right balance in terms of personnel and the overall team in the first few months of the campaign.
Van Dijk “looking very much forward” to United clash
Speaking to Pro Soccer Talk in London following their recent defeat to Chelsea, Van Dijk was quickly switching his attention to the mammoth game coming up against United.
“I think I’ve been at the club for such a long time that we’ve been through many difficult situations, and we get out of it as well,” Van Dijk said. “So, obviously, it’s not for everyone easy to just accept it and move on, but the only thing we can do is focus on the next opportunity that we have and work on it.
“We have a very big game against Man United where I’m already looking very much forward to, and it’s an opportunity again that we can show what we have been showing already last year throughout the whole season.
“That’s the reason why we became champions and made so many people around the world happy. And now, obviously, we need each other to get to that point again. Work is the basis to it, and finding consistency and sticking together.”
Staying calm is key for Liverpool
All is not lost. Even if they’ve lost two in a row Liverpool have still won five of their first seven league games and the reigning champions have a host of talented new players who are still adjusting to their new surroundings at Anfield and a new manager in Slot.
Liverpool aren’t getting hammered and are losing games by a single goal that they could have easily won. But the opposite could be said of many of their narrow wins earlier in the season. There needs to be a sense of perspective.
“Yeah, it’s about us seeing that perspective as players and staff. I want the fans also to see that perspective as well. But we live in a world where there’s so much noise going on, so you have to deal with that as well. And it’s down to us to keep working, to find results, stick together, find confidence,” Van Dijk said.
How can Liverpool find that confidence?
“What I said already to you before, get clean sheets, score goals, what we have been doing last year and everyone was all happy and supporting. Now we have a little bit of a tough moment which can change pretty quickly. We have to work for it. That’s something we realize and we need to do it all together.
“Like we always have been doing over those years, especially when I’ve been at the club because I’ve been through up and downs. And that’s the only way out of it. It sounds maybe a bit simple, but that’s the only way to do it. Let’s go for it. Nobody wants to lose. No fan of us wants to come here and lose and go home and feel disappointed. So we have to keep going and stick together.”
Of course, clearly there is plenty of work to do in order for Liverpool to dominate games and put them to bed early. At the moment it’s a case of one step, and one game, at a time to get back to winning ways.
“We purely focus on the task ahead, trying to beat Man United,” Van Dijk said. “It will be a cracking game, and I’m really looking forward to it. That’s then the focus. Now, you have to turn it to a different angle.”
What are the key issues that need sorting for Liverpool?
Much of that different angle will focus on who will start alongside Van Dijk at center back with his usual partner Ibrahima Konate struggling for form and fitness, while the only other option to start alongside the Dutch legend is Joe Gomez.
Not getting the Marc Guehi signing over the line and failing to significantly bolster their central defensive options this summer appears to have been a major oversight from the Liverpool hierarchy.
There will also be plenty of focus on superstar Mohamed Salah, who has yet to hit top form this season, new signing Florian Wirtz, who has struggled and hasn’t found a settled position on the pitch, and new full backs Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez who have both looked suspect defensively and a little overawed by the added pressure and expectations.
New players not settling in quickly is the main problem so far for Slot, but so too is an obvious switch from the possession-based, controlled play which led them to Premier League glory last season. They need to be less chaotic, especially in defense and midfield, to get them back to winning, and dominating, games. But will this new-look be asked to do that, starting this weekend against United? Probably not.
How will Liverpool get back on track against United?
Control is key. Or it should be. It was for Liverpool last season, so why change it? Either Liverpool stop this becoming a transitional end-to-end encounter like it was against Chelsea, or they totally embrace it.
If they do the latter they should start Isak, Salah, Ekitike and Wirtz to try and score early and often against United to put the game to bed.
But given how fragile they’ve looked defensively, especially at full back, should Slot do that? Probably not. But it seems like he’s committed to being more attack-minded and taking more risks this season.
So then what happens in midfield and at full back? Robertson and Bradley would be the pragmatic choices at left and right back respectively but Frimpong and Kerkez would give Liverpool more ability to get higher up the pitch quicker and stay there. In midfield Ryan Gravenberch (if he’s fit to start) will keep things calm and plug defensive gaps as usual, while alongside him Curtis Jones and Alexis Mac Allister perhaps provide better control on the ball but they’ve struggled for form.
But Dominik Szoboszlai has been in fine form and will provide Liverpool with more drive from midfield. Crucially he will also help connect midfield and attack and that is badly needed with Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak extremely isolated against Chelsea and in other recent games. So Szoboszlai shoulf start.
Slot has said many times already this season that Liverpool will go for it more in games compared to last season. That has probably cost them in the last few games as they try to get the balance right. However, with the quality Liverpool have they know it’s only a matter of time before everything clicks into place.
What about Slot? How is he feeling?
“Obviously he’s disappointed that we lost in the last minute. But there are a lot of good things, especially in the second half, that we can build on,” Van Dijk explained after the defeat to Chelsea. “But at the end of the day, we live in a results business. Losing is just a disappointment. We have to get back to work. Basically, that’s it. That’s the aim, that’s what we have to do, that’s the responsibility that we have.”
That responsibility starts at a raucous Anfield on Sunday, against bitter rivals Manchester United. There is no better time, place or opponent for Liverpool to prove the last few weeks were just a small blip and normal service has resumed.
