Virgil van Dijk vows to improve as Liverpool bid to turn season around

Van Dijk hasn’t been his usual imperious self as the Reds have endured a sloppy start to the season

Van Dijk hasn’t been his usual imperious self so far this season (Action Images via Reuters)

Virgil van Dijk has admitted he can play “much better” than he has so far this season but described Liverpool’s 2-1 win against Ajax as a necessary improvement after the “shocking” display in defeat to Napoli.

The Dutch defender branded Liverpool’s performance in Italy unacceptable as he said it brought a reality check to Jurgen Klopp’s squad.

Van Dijk conceded a penalty the 4-1 loss to Napoli as, after going 150 games without giving away a spot kick, he gifted opponents two in seven matches.

He also had a row on the pitch at Old Trafford with James Milner about his failure to block Jadon Sancho’s opening goal for Manchester United and he accepted he needs to improve.

“I can do much better and I think [the win over Ajax] was a good step in the right direction for all of us,” he said. “If we do well I obviously get praise and if we don’t then I don’t. But I still think I need to improve and that’s fine. The only way to do it is play the games, learn from the mistakes, don’t listen to the outside world too much and speak to the people close to you.

“I know for a fact I can do better but we all can do better. I feel very hurt if we concede goals and don’t keep clean sheets and I feel that responsibility but that’s a good thing. I want to turn this season around not for myself but for all of us associated with the club and we want to perform as good as we can.”

Klopp described the Napoli game as the worst in his seven-year reign and Van Dijk believes Liverpool were wretched last Wednesday.

He added: “What we did last week was unacceptable, all of us, and the days after that game we definitely had a reality check. We spoke with each other and we have to carry on.

“We were absolutely shocking that night: we know it, it hurts all of us, it hurts me. We spoke about it, we drew a line under it and we showed glimpses of what we normally are.”