Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has questioned his teammates’ desire following Wednesday’s loss to Everton which put a huge dent in their hopes to win the Premier League title.
The defender suggested his fellow Anfield players take “a look in the mirror” as he launched into a scathing analysis of Liverpool’s end-of-season collapse following their second defeat in three league games, made even more damaging as it came at Goodison Park.
Jürgen Klopp’s final season is now increasingly likely to end with only the Carabao Cup and Van Dijk criticised a lack of appetite to drag things back in their favour.
“Do they really want to win the league?” he asked, before adding: “If you play like this overall in the game and [do] not win any challenges and give the referee an opportunity to give a free-kick away then we have no chance to win the title.
“ Very disappointed in so many ways. Everyone has to look in the mirror and look at their own performance and think if they gave everything.”
Just over a month ago Liverpool fans were still hoping an unprecedented if unlikely quadruple could be a possibility but a week after a surprise exit from Europe their Premier League title hopes were substantially hit by the 2-0 defeat at Everton.
“Games likes these, the bare minimum is fight,” Van Dijk said, reflecting on a hugely disappointing derby result. “We were lacking that at so many moments in games. If you play like we did, obviously even if we create two or three clearcut chances again, you don’t deserve to win the league.
“It’s crunch time and we’ve not been good enough in the way we finished the chances off, in the way we defended together and also the fight. I think we have to show much more. But we have to look in the mirror and each and every one of us has to think like: ‘Listen, you can’t accept this. You can’t accept the way we let our season end.’”
Fatigue and injuries, which have dogged the squad all season, have been key components in the decline in Liverpool performances over the last month but there has also been a noticeable drop in effectiveness in attack with the Reds lacking the clinical edge which has for so long been a trademark.
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Despite creating a number of chances against Everton they weren’t able to convert them and the second-half petered out in a similar way to last week’s Europa League win away to Atalanta when they were required to overturn a 3-0 first-leg deficit but managed just one goal.
“It’s a mix of everything,” Van Dijk reasoned. “You can’t put a finger on it. It’s confidence, inexperience, challenges, maybe afraid to make mistakes in this part of the season. We have to stick together. We can’t have groups blaming each other because that’s not how it works. It’s a team thing and I don’t blame anyone. I blame us as a team, as a group. Everyone has to look in the mirror.”