The Dutch defender protested against the negative “media noise” which accompanied this bad patch, the Reds having suffered defeats in the league against Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Manchester United and Brentford.
Salah and Gravenberch gave Liverpool victory
Liverpool returned to success by winning 2-0 against Aston Villa, Unai Emery’s team, on Saturday evening. Goals from Mohamed Salah and Ryan Gravenberch gave Arne Slot’s men some breathing space after a grueling run of eight games, also marked by defeats against Galatasaray in the Champions League and Palace in the Carabao Cup.
Van Dijk responds to criticism of Reds’ poor run
Such was Liverpool’s poor run that Van Dijk revealed earlier this month that he had called a meeting with the players after the 2-1 defeat to United. However, the Dutchman has since criticized the reaction to this difficult period for the club, saying the media coverage was comparable to that of a team struggling to stay.
Speaking on TNT Sports after his side’s win over Aston Villa, Van Dijk said: “What I have especially noticed over the last two weeks is that there is a lot of media noise over which we have no control and which we must deal with as a team.
Some of these opinions are absolutely ridiculous. But you have to deal with that. These are external noises that can affect certain players, the group. The important thing is to stay united. »
“We are not going on the field to lose matches, we are not going to be disappointed after the matches nor to leave the supporters disappointed when they go home. We want to give our all and win. But nothing is guaranteed. We play in the Premier League, at the highest level, in the best championship in the world, and it’s difficult to keep calm, but we have to if we want to find our goal again. This is our priority. But we’ll see that later in the season.
“Now we must continue to work, not get carried away, not get discouraged. We live in a world where, at least for footballers (because that’s the only area where I can speak), everyone can give their opinion on numerous platforms and claim to know everything better than others. You have to try to move away from it and focus on the hard work you have done.
“Last season, we didn’t hear a lot of negative things. Everything was rosy. » Now, in the eyes of the outside world, it looks like we’re going to fight to stay, that’s how it works in the world.
