Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has admitted that the team’s poor performance in recent games has left them undeserving of winning the Premier League title. Speaking after the team’s 2-0 defeat to Everton in the Merseyside derby, van Dijk criticized the players’ lack of appetite and fight. “Games like these, the bare minimum is fight. We were lacking that at so many moments in games,” said the Netherlands captain. “If you play like we did, obviously even if we create two or three clear-cut chances again, you don’t deserve to win the league.”
Liverpool’s title hopes have taken a significant blow in recent weeks, with the team dropping points in crucial matches. They were once considered to be in contention for an unprecedented quadruple, but their hopes of winning the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup have now faded. Van Dijk believes that the team’s lack of consistency and inability to finish off chances have been major factors in their struggles.
“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’.”
Liverpool’s performance in the derby was particularly disappointing, as they failed to create many clear-cut chances and were second best to their local rivals for much of the game. Van Dijk believes that the team needs to stick together and work hard to improve their form.
“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. We can’t let the season end like this.”
