Liverpool only lost their second game of the season against Tottenham Hotspur, but their camp felt disadvantaged after matchwinner Lucas Bergvall escaped a second yellow card just moments before his decisive goal. Speaking afterwards, Virgil van Dijk, ranked at No.1 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best centre-backs in the world right now, conceded Liverpool were not at their best, but said the defeat could have been avoided if the referee had made a different decision.
“I think it was unnecessary,” said Van Dijk about the manner in which his team lost. “I think the goal we conceded, that’s the disappointing part.”
But the Liverpool captain admitted his team wasn’t on the same level as they have been for most of the season.
‘We weren’t good enough’
“We weren’t good enough in possession, we didn’t keep the ball longer than we could have [done]. We gave balls away to give them momentum.
“Obviously they felt 100% [motivated] before the game, they wanted to make things right. We knew that and then you have to find the right passes and the right moment to break on them and keep the ball a little bit longer and I think we did at times well, but obviously not throughout the whole game.”
Tottenham were keen to show a different side of themselves after they lost the same fixture 3-6 at their stadium only a few weeks ago. They did and managed to overcome a Liverpool side for whom it was only the second defeat in all competitions this season.
The Reds have been impressing everyone so far and Van Dijk says one of the challenges is to keep the focus within. “Don’t listen to all the noise from the outside world, because at the start of the season, no one was thinking where we are right now, that we would be there.”
The Dutchman concedes it can be hard as “social media and media is a big part of people’s life nowadays”. Liverpool is still playing for four trophies and van Dijk likes to take on the challenges ahead.
“We gonna have more difficult moments, that’s a fact, we’ve been there before and that’s the beauty of playing for Liverpool, because every game that you play is difficult, the pressure is always on us, as players, because the size of the club and everything that we went through. And that’s a good thing, you have to embrace it and we’re really looking forward to the rest of the season.”
When it comes to the League Cup, the Dutch centre-back knows there is still everything to play for next month, when both teams meet for the return. “We know that we are gonna be 1-0 down, when the game [starts] at Anfield, so we have to fight and we have to do it all together with our fans and the players.
“Hopefully everyone is fit and then let’s see if we can do it. It will be very tough, because they are a very good team, in my opinion, very good manager, but we are gonna go for it.”