Arne Slot reaction — Boss speaks after loss as Van Dijk says Liverpool ‘have to turn it around ASAP’

Arne Slot’s Liverpool had a dreadful Sunday at Anfield as rivals Manchester United extended Liverpool’s losing streak to four games following a 2-1 loss in Premier League action.

Slot thought his men had come back to take a point from rivals Manchester United on Sunday, and the Dutch boss would’ve been relieved for all of 5-6 minutes as Harry Maguire thudded the visitors back in front.

MORE — Liverpool v Man United recap, video highlights

Slot’s men had lost three-straight matches across all competitions to Crystal Palace, Galatasaray, and Chelsea leading up to the international break, but those were all away from Anfield and this opportunity was seen as a salve given Man United’s recent record at Anfield.

Bryan Mbeumo’s second-minute goal changed that, and Liverpool needed the better part of the match to go level through impressive Cody Gakpo. The Dutchman had hit the post thrice over 78 minutes before punching home Federico Chiesa’s pass and leveling the score.

Six minutes later, Maguire snapped a Bruno Fernandes cross past Giorgi Mamardashvili to lengthen Liverpool’s losing streak.

Arne Slot reaction — How did Liverpool view surprise home loss to Manchester United?

What happened Sunday? “It’s always difficult to play against a team in a low block that plays long balls. It makes it even more difficult when you down after one minute with one of our players on the floor. If you would’ve told me before the game we’d create as many chances as we did against a low block, I wouldn’t have expected us to lose but that is what we did. Of course we concede one or two extra chances because of the risk you take when you’re 1-0 down. And when you take into account that we did not concede. We had to defend a set piece and like against Palace we concede on a set piece. And that’s hard to take because it is very difficult to win a game of football if you have a negative balance on set pieces.”

“People tend to forget how many chances we had when we were 1-0 down in the first. Alexander Isak first half 1v1 to the goalkeeper. Cody Gakpo hitting the post twice. Already in the first half we had chances to go 1-1, but in the second half we had more chances because the other team gets tired.”

Concerned with losing streak? “Of course concerns if you lose four times in a row. You have to be concerned because you know how it works in football. If we can keep making performances like this we will have a good chance of winning a game of football. But you never know if the next game you’ll be able to create, what — 8, 9, 10 chances from open play? We came back and if that mentality is there there’s a lot to take into upcoming games.”

Unfair to be critical of Isak, Salah, Wirtz? “What I saw today is the players who were starting were able to create already a quite a lot of chances in the first half and the players I brought in created even more. But that also has to do with all the effort we put it in the first half. Florian Wirtz came in and was again creating a lot. Hugo Ekitike came in and was very close to scoring a goal. Federico Chiesa did really well and Jeremie Frimpong came in and had... he should’ve had an assist because normally Cody Gakpo scores a ball like that so I don’t think the focus should be on them, the focus should be on me, on us, the team, whoever you want to focus on, but everyone is giving it all and that’s what people expect from us. That’s what the players are doing.”

Virgil van Dijk reaction (video) — Liverpool ‘have to turn it around ASAP’

What happened? “We conceded a very sloppy second goal. We worked so hard to get back into the game and created opportunites to score the winner. Overall if you look at the game we were far too rushed, making wrong decisions at times, and there were also moments where we were open and lost the ball. Disappointing day.”

“United was very patient. They didn’t press us that high. They let us on the ball and we made rash decisions at time where we maybe could’ve stayed a bit calm. We created many opportunities to score and win the game but obviously we lost. It’s an interesting time. We have to stick together as players and fans, and everyone who wants us to win.

What happened on the first goal? “The ball goes long, the first header gets won by United, second won by me. I hit Mac Allister’s elbow and he goes down, I go down. That creates the position in behind. I thought from my ankle it was pretty difficult to score but obviously he scored. We had to stay calm and didn’t manage that in the best way.”

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