Liverpool FC captain Virgil van Dijk did not shy away from criticism following his side’s 2-1 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League.
Under the lights at Molineux, Liverpool were undone late on as a deflected strike from Andre in added time sealed all three points for the hosts.
Rodrigo Gomes had earlier fired Wolves ahead in the 78th minute, before Mohamed Salah responded almost immediately to restore parity.
However, just as the contest seemed to be drifting toward a draw, Andre’s effort took a decisive touch and crept past the goalkeeper.
Reacting after the final whistle, Van Dijk admitted the Reds fell short of their usual standards.
“I think it’s down to ourselves,” he said. “We were slow, we were predictable and sloppy in possession and wrong with decision-making.
“Obviously we didn’t concede chances, but if you perform like that then a result like this could be the result of that.
“That’s the fact and that’s disappointing from tonight.”
Despite dominating possession for large spells, Liverpool struggled to inject tempo into their build-up play.
Van Dijk acknowledged the team failed to find the cutting edge required to break down a disciplined Wolves side.
“It’s not one reason why that’s the case. Obviously the game nowadays in general will be over-analysed and analysed and why things are happening on the pitch.
“We as a team want to start the game as well as we can. In the last game [against West Ham United] we did.”
The skipper added: “Today we had the majority of possession, but we were still making the wrong decisions I think and couldn’t find the end product.
“In the end we’re just disappointed that we lost it today.”
Defensively, the Reds had recently shown signs of improvement with a run of clean sheets, but the late winner proved costly. The skipper, however, quickly turned attention to the next challenge.
“Conceding goals is always frustrating. Obviously we’ve come on the back of a couple of clean sheets [before West Ham].
“I think defensively we have been very solid.
“But it is what it is and we have to move quickly on because we come back here in a couple of days and we want to do well in the FA Cup. We have to show a reaction.”
With the race for a top-five finish intensifying, the defeat represents a setback. Still, the Dutch defender stressed that consistency over the remainder of the campaign will be key.
“The whole season is not easy. It was always going to be an ups-and-downs season for multiple reasons.
“The league is strong and the league is demanding every three or four days and it’s a big battle.
“We need everyone at their best and we need a big squad in this sense. We need results and in the last couple of weeks we had the results and today we didn’t.
“It says that we still have work to do and that’s pretty obvious and that’s what we should focus on.”
Liverpool now shift their focus to the FA Cup, where a swift response will be required to regain momentum and keep their ambitions firmly on track.
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