Liverpool boss Arne Slot has leapt to the defence of skipper Virgil van Dijk and the rest of the backline after they faced criticism for their first-half display in the weekend’s 3-2 loss away at Fulham.
The defensive lapses resulted in the end of the runaway log leaders’ 26-game unbeaten league run. They are still firm favourites to lift the title, however, sitting on 73 points, 11 clear of second-placed Arsenal with seven matches to go.
Liverpool had briefly led at Craven Cottage before errors from Curtis Jones, Andrew Robertson and Van Dijk proved costly.
Dutchman Van Dijk was largely to blame for Fulham’s third goal of a devastating first-half blitz after misjudging a high ball and allowing the powerful Rodrigo Muniz a clear run on goal before firing home.
The skipper had also struggled against the equally combative Beto of Everton in the Merseyside Derby at Anfield on Wednesday last week.
Slot refused to read too much into the defensive slip-ups, pointing to Liverpool’s solidity at the back over the course of the season. Only Arsenal have conceded fewer goals, having shipped 26 goals so far.
“Van Dijk is not the first player to find it difficult to defend against Beto. And the one that played here today (Muniz), you have to give credit to him also,” he told Sky Sports in a post-match interview.
“I still see a lot of things that Virgil does really well, but if you play 50 to 60 games a season, there will be moments, even for him, where you could have done better.”
He dismissed any suggestion that complacency had crept into Liverpool’s play of late. Even striker Mo Salah has not been spared criticism for some fairly anonymous recent displays.
“Of course, people want to make stories but for me it’s all about playing Fulham. They’re a good team, and if you then make three errors it’s going to be very difficult to win the game against them,” Slot said.
“In general, we are not making many of these errors, let alone three in one game. Today, we also had (Ibrahima) Konate losing the ball too.
“The second half was so much better than the first, but it’s hard to win a game of football at this level if you concede three goals like this.”
The Anfield giants will have the rest of the week to regroup, before Sunday’s visit to Anfield of West Ham.
Slot need not persist with the experiment of playing midfielder Jones at right-back in the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold. Regular replacement Conor Bradley got some valuable game time at Craven Cottage and should be fit to start, barring any further setbacks.
It will be interesting to see if Slot tinkers with his central defensive duo of Konate and Van Dijk. Jarell Quansah has proven to be an able deputy over the course of the season and could step up if needed. The cool Dutchman is unlikely to make any moves that smack of panic, however, as the Reds try to take another step closer to the title.
