ไทย
English
中國人
Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk confessed that the squad "gave up" during Sunday's embarrassing 4–0 FA Cup quarterfinal loss to Manchester City in a striking post-match interview filled with sobering assessments.
After a promising opening 30 minutes at the Etihad Stadium, Liverpool collapsed in two separate spells. Erling Haaland netted twice in the closing 10 minutes of the first half, the first coming from a spot kick that Van Dijk carelessly gave away.
The Reds had the interval to regroup but returned to the pitch equally rattled, conceding two further goals before the hour mark. Dominik Szoboszlai suggested he and his fellow players had lacked a "fighting spirit" and the right mindset. Van Dijk went even further in his criticism.
"Obviously, you come with the right intentions out of the dressing room to hopefully score the [goal to make it] 2–1 as soon as possible to change the game. But obviously the opposite happens," the Dutch center back sighed to assembled reporters in the postmatch mixed zone.
"To come back from 3–0 is obviously very difficult over here. But also, you shouldn't give up, and maybe at a certain point that's what happened."
The remaining 30 minutes drifted by without incident as City played with their thoroughly beaten opponents. Rayan Cherki seemed to particularly enjoy weaving past the lethargic Liverpool players before pulling on one of their shirts while seated on City's substitutes' bench. As Arne Slot bluntly conceded: "It was just a game where both teams accepted it was 4–0."
"We let ourselves down, the manager down, but we let our fans down today," Van Dijk added. "Up until the penalty, maybe not, but the way we especially played the second half, that must hurt for everyone, and it definitely hurts me."
If Van Dijk's remarks about the match itself were troubling, his outlook for what lies ahead offered little cause for encouragement.
Van Dijk Questions Liverpool Squad's 'Togetherness'
Van Dijk not only cast doubt on his teammates' belief but also on the genuine unity within the squad. The Dutch captain acknowledged that "their quality is there" but expressed reservations about the group's "togetherness."
"I've been lucky enough to play for Liverpool for so many years, the main thing that was always the thing was the togetherness," Van Dijk explained. "And obviously we're in a little bit of a transition, so we have to find that, but it's still difficult to then perform each and every three days if we don't have it [the togetherness] consistently."
It was a particularly poignant sight to see Pep Lijnders standing in the opposite technical area at the Etihad on Saturday, deputising for the suspended Pep Guardiola. Jürgen Klopp's former right-hand man had been a key part of the Liverpool coaching setup that built the "mentality monsters" philosophy which defined that relentless, trophy-laden era at Anfield.
Van Dijk was a central figure in the Liverpool side that produced the most iconic display of that mentality when they overturned a three-goal deficit against Barcelona in a 2019 Champions League semifinal, winning 4–0 at Anfield. Mohamed Salah missed that match through injury and watched from the stands wearing a T-shirt bearing three words: "Never give up."
By Van Dijk's own admission, fostering that kind of spirit among the club's current crop of players is proving far from straightforward.
'Tough' Challenges for Liverpool Keep on Coming
Having been dismantled by City, Liverpool will find little respite with a visit to Paris Saint-Germain's Parc des Princes on Wednesday night. "PSG is waiting for us," a deflated Van Dijk cautiously noted while turning his attention to the Champions League quarterfinal first leg. "I watched them yesterday a little bit, and they will be so tough again."
Van Dijk was asked whether he could identify any grounds for optimism going forward. "I've been there many times this season where I've had hope, and then we couldn't build on performances," he replied despondently.
"I'm trying to think how we can turn this around. We've been going through this almost 75% of the season already, where we do well and then we don't, and we can't build on certain things, and we fall back into games where we get beat on intensity or beat on how much you really want to go for it."