Virgil van Dijk says it might feel like “the world is sinking” after two damaging defeats — but insists the “biggest prize” this season is still within Liverpool’s grasp.
Arne Slot’s side have endured a dismal week — bowing out of the Champions League to Paris Saint-Germain and then losing Sunday’s Carabao Cup final to Newcastle United.
However, Liverpool captain Van Dijk is determined to ensure they do not feel sorry for themselves with a Premier League title still to be won. They sit 12 points clear of Arsenal with nine games remaining.
“We have to turn this around,” Van Dijk told reporters post-match at Wembley Stadium. “It’s how football works: in five days you lose twice and the world is sinking. Two weeks before everything was sunshine and rainbows everywhere.
“The Champions League we couldn’t get it done, this we lost and the FA Cup we got knocked out. We have nine games to go and I don’t think there’s any motivation needed to try to get the job done.
“You play for the biggest prize that you work so hard for from the start of the season. No-one expected us to be challenging for the Premier League. It’s the most difficult prize to get. There’s a lot at stake. There are so many positive and good things to look forward to. We have to work our ass off for it.
“Now everyone goes to their respective countries, play there, hopefully stay fit, and then we get ready for Everton at home (on April 2) which is going to be tough.”
The Netherlands international admits Liverpool got what they deserved at Wembley after producing such a poor performance. However, he denied that fatigue was a factor after their energy-sapping European tie with PSG.
“It was difficult,” Van Dijk added. “Newcastle obviously were good at what they’re good at. It sounds pretty cliched, maybe, but the aggressiveness, the challenges, drawing fouls, getting set-pieces.
“We gave them the encouragement, the feeling that this could be their night. We were just not good enough and that was very disappointing and hard to take.
“I don’t think there’s any impact (from the defeat to PSG). We had a day off two days after that game to settle down a little bit.
“They defended well. I think Dan Burn was very good. We didn’t really have the firepower today. Not many clear chances.
“The life of a footballer means tomorrow at 2pm I’ll be in the national team camp and I can’t be sitting there with my face down and everyone looking at me thinking: ‘Are we gonna attack this international break?’
“I’m the captain there as well. It’s a quick turnaround. I’m very disappointed. I really am. It hurts but from tomorrow that’s the life of a football player, you can’t dwell on things too much, especially in the middle of a season. Tomorrow, I’ll focus on facing Spain because I’ve got a quite difficult one on Thursday.”
(Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images)
