ReactionVirgil van Dijk: We have to improve quickly and stick together
Virgil van Dijk acknowledged swift improvement is required after Liverpool were beaten 1-0 away at Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Arne Slot's men fell to defeat in their second league-phase fixture of the campaign through a first-half penalty from Victor Osimhen.
With the Reds having now suffered back-to-back losses, Van Dijk stressed the need for the team to quickly brush off the disappointment as they head to Chelsea on Saturday in the Premier League.
Read on for the captain's post-match interview with Amazon Prime Video in Istanbul…
On whether Galatasaray deserved to win....
Difficult to say at the moment. Obviously they got the penalty, they got a couple of opportunities basically through our mistakes in possession, losing the ball in unnecessary moments, a bit sloppy. Listen, you stand here with a loss and that's obviously the frustrating part, especially after the terrible performance we had over the weekend. So, take this on the chin and we have to recover quickly and be ready for Stamford Bridge.
On conceding chances...
We take the risk in possession, so obviously we try to find the spare man in the midfield and that comes with the risk as well. It happened many times as well, in the first half especially, that we broke through them and we got at the last line and maybe have to do better there. But there were moments as well that we made the wrong decisions and then they break on us and become dangerous. That's the frustrating part. But losing is just bad and we want to improve quickly and we want to win games. Obviously we started the season fantastically with all the wins that we had and now losing these two games doesn't feel nice. But I've been in the game quite a long time, so it's all about just keep working and head down. That's the main thing.
On how close Liverpool are to having the 'authority they did in games last season'...
I think we showed it already in many games this season. We couldn't show it for 94 minutes unfortunately yet. But it's absolutely normal that you need time if you come to a new place, a new team, new demands. On and off the pitch, it's absolutely normal. Obviously nowadays you don't get the time from the outside world, so you have to be strong mentally and learn. Everyone is obviously in their own world at times as well. But we have to keep working, we have to keep improving and keep going at it and stick together. That's what we've always been doing, definitely in my time at Liverpool. We had a fantastic year last year, we had a good start in terms of the points tally this season [and] many good moments during the games we've played so far. Obviously losing twice in a row doesn't feel good and that's what we have to improve.
On not panicking...
Like I said, I hate losing and there shouldn't be panic, but there definitely should be improvement needed. I think it was a step-up in terms of the willingness, the hard work that we put in from the weekend, but that was not really too difficult because on the weekend it was just bad. But now we just have to convert chances, don't give a penalty away today and don't make silly mistakes at times. It's far too easy to say these things than to actually make it happen. But it's a process and we have to keep going. Like I said as well [about] new players coming, it's not about the new players. Maybe the focus is a little bit too much on that at times, but it takes a bit of time as well. We keep working, stick together and move onto the next one. That's the only thing we can focus on.