Virgil van Dijk has revealed what he did with his Liverpool teammates after their hugely disappointing 2-1 loss at home to Manchester United.
The Reds brought an end to their slump on Wednesday evening, winning 5-1 away to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.
It was a huge result for Arne Slot, who has been feeling the pressure in recent weeks, with Van Dijk a rock at the heart of the defence, also scoring Liverpool’s second goal on the night.
Speaking to the media [via This Is Anfield], Van Dijk admitted that he held a rare chat just with his teammates and without Slot on Monday, the day after losing to United at Anfield.
“On Monday everyone was sad because we lost to Man United at home,” said Van Dijk.
“It was tough under the circumstances so on Monday we came together but it wasn’t a crisis meeting. Nobody wants to lose four games in a row but it was the situation we faced.”
“Obviously we also had a proper debrief with the manager but we also had a separate one as players. I wanted to say some things. It’s not something I do after every game. After my meeting everyone was happy!”
Van Dijk continues to be a fantastic Liverpool captain
Even the incomparable Van Dijk has been out of sorts by his high standards in recent weeks, but he was excellent against Frankfurt, barely putting a foot wrong.
The Dutchman has been a superb captain since replacing Jordan Henderson in the role back in 2023, and his decision to speak solely to his teammates was an inspired decision, given the result in Germany on Wednesday night.
There is still a lot of work for Van Dijk and his Liverpool colleagues to do, however, with Saturday’s trip to Brentford likely to be a bigger test than Frankfurt, who made life too easy for them at times.
If the Reds can return home with another three points in the bag this weekend, it really would suggest that a big corner has been turned, whereas a draw or a defeat would be cause for concern in the Premier League title race.
