Virgil van Dijk issued a direct message to "the people that were celebrating with us last year" after Liverpool's title defence took another significant hit on Saturday night.
It was an evening to forget for Arne Slot's side, who suffered a damaging 3-2 defeat at Brentford as goals from Dango Ouattara, Kevin Schade and Igor Thiago inflicted a fourth straight Premier League defeat on the out-of-form Reds.
As a result of their latest setback, Liverpool have dropped down to seventh in the table, four points behind leaders Arsenal. They also sit behind Bournemouth, Manchester United and newly-promoted Sunderland, who are flying high in second.
Speaking in his post-match media duties at the Gtech, a frustrated Arne Slot made his feelings clear on the result, which follows previous defeats to Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Manchester United.
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Asked if it was the worst performance of his time at the club, he said: "Yeah. I think it is up there, yeah. In my time here. In terms of losing a game. Normally when we are 1-0 or 2-0 down, by the way after we went 1-0 down that was the only moment I really liked."
Slot added: "We did not do the basics right. If you are 1-0, 2-0 or 3-1 down, the energy in the stadium was helpful for them. They are a good team in winning duels and second balls, you must give them credit."
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk was also disheartened by the result and their performance. Asked what is "concerning" him about recent performances, the Dutchman struggled to pinpoint an exact reason for their decline before bringing up their defensive record.
He also asked the Liverpool faithful for their support.
"It's difficult to say," he told TNT Sports when asked about their struggles. "The fact is that we didn't keep clean sheets for nine games. It's easy then to blame a particular person or the back line or set-pieces, but it's a collective thing in the end as well.
"Everyone has to look in the mirror, including myself. That's what we all do and that's what we all have discussed as well. I'm sure we will get out of this, but we don't get out of this just by talking about it. Obviously I have to come here because you guys ask me to come here, otherwise I would just focus on trying to get back on track with my team."
He continued: "We'll try to improve, that's what we work on; it's not that we're doing nothing in training or nothing behind the scenes. We all want to improve, that's why we're on the pitch as well. But it's tough at the moment.
"We need each other, we need the support, we need the people that were celebrating with us as well last year to be there for us now even more, and then I'm very confident that we will get out of this because we have the quality offensively, defensively.
"But the reality is we are looking for a clean sheet but definitely for a win again. That's the reality."
Thoughts on Liverpool's struggles? What is going wrong? Let us know.
Topics: Liverpool, Virgil Van Dijk, Premier League
Jack Kenmare