Virgil van Dijk urgent request as Arne Slot told ‘writing on the wall’ at Liverpool

Liverpool have lost their last four Premier League matches and have now been sent a message by a former Manchester United coach ahead of the clash with Aston Villa at Anfield

Arne Slot and Virgil van Dijk have both been sent a message amid Liverpool's disappointing run of form. The Reds have lost their last four Premier League matches and were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Crystal Palace earlier in the week.

That form in the top flight has seen Liverpool fall to seventh place in the Premier League table heading into their clash against Aston Villa on Saturday night. Slot and Co are without a win in the league since September 20 which came against Everton in the Merseyside derby.

Liverpool's run of defeats has led to pressure being placed on Slot's position as the club's head coach. However, former Manchester United assistant Rene Meulensteen, who worked closely with Sir Alex Ferguson, has explained why multiple factors may have led to the Reds' disappointing form.

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“They [Liverpool] were winning games in the first games of the season but they were dragging themselves over the line in the last few minutes so the writing was on the wall and they’ve gone from leading the title race to being several points behind," Meulensteen said in an interview with compare.bet.

"That's an enormous shift but Slot has not turned into a bad manager. His coaching staff aren’t suddenly bad coaches.

"They haven't suddenly turned the messaging to the players from black to white. It’s the same with the players.

“[Florian] Wirtz has come from a different league in the Bundesliga, as did [Hugo] Ekitke, but I think Wirtz is finding it even a little bit harder to find his feet.

"The whole [Alexander] Isak transfer saga has not done anybody any favours because he's not been fully fit. Mentally, he's probably not arrived at where he needs to be. He's desperate to score a goal and get going.

“Everybody's starting to question Mohamed Salah now but he hasn't suddenly turned into a bad player. He has had these spells before where he suddenly hits a bit of a dry patch."

Meulensteen went on to explain why he believes players such as Van Dijk should being show theiring leadership skills right now to urgently put an end to Liverpool's run of defeats.

“They have to go back to themselves and say, when were we at our best and what were the reasons why? The key is making sure that you don't start pointing fingers at each other," Meulensteen said.

"You look at yourself first and make sure that you stick together. You say let's bring the best out of each other again. It starts with hard work, working together, doing your defensive jobs and making sure those players who thrive on being able to express themselves have the courage to play their best football.

“That's what those big players do and there's no harm in asking the big players to step up. Virgil Van Dijk is still there. Dominik Szoboszlai is only getting better and better. They’ve still got Alexis Mac Allister. Salah is still there.”

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