Virgil van Dijk has revealed he led a players-only meeting after Liverpool’s disastrous defeat to Manchester United last Sunday.
The Liverpool captain was one of several high-profile names who played below their usual standards in theweekend’s clash with bitter foes United, the Reds succumbing to a late 2–1 defeat as a result of Harry Maguire’s match-winning header.
It marked Liverpool’s fourth straight defeat in all competitions and signalled potential crisis as they fell further behind Premier League title rivals Arsenal and Manchester City.
However, Arne Slot’s side bounced back from the disappointment with a thumping 5–1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, after which Van Dijk admitted to an emergency squad meeting at the start of the week.
“On Monday, everyone was sad because we lost to Manchester United at home,” said Van Dijk, who scored in the win at Frankfurt. “We haven’t lost many games at home during my time at Liverpool. It was tough under the circumstances, so on Monday we came together, but it wasn’t a crisis meeting. We all know how things can change. We’re only in October.
“Nobody wants to lose four games in a row, but it was the situation we faced. We had to stay calm and block out all the noise from the outside because that’s something you can’t control. The only way to get out of a situation like that is to stay together, keep your mind on the task ahead, try to improve, keep the confidence, embrace the moment.”
Quizzed about the impact of Monday’s meeting, the Dutch international admitted the coming together had lifted the mood in the Liverpool camp.
“Before my meeting yes [the mood was low} but after my meeting everyone was happy,” added the 34-year-old. “We 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. Let’s keep it that way.”
Hugo Ekitiké, Ibrahima Konaté, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai joined Van Dijk on the scoresheet midweek as Liverpool avoided a fifth straight loss for the first time since 1953. The Reds will now be full of confidence heading to Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday evening.
READ THE LATEST LIVERPOOL NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS AND MORE
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Virgil van Dijk: Liverpool Captain Took Drastic Action After Bitter Man Utd Defeat.