Virgil van Dijk headed off to international duty with the hope of being able to lift the Nations League trophy but instead will return home after losing both games and finishing in fourth place.
Speaking with NOS Sport (translated) after the match, the Dutch captain reflected on the 3-2 loss to Italy: “We are building something, but how we allow ourselves to be trumped, that should not happen to us and is very disappointing.
“In the second half we took risks and things went better at times, but the first half is of course never allowed. It just wasn’t good enough. We should definitely look at this, especially in view of the important matches that are coming up.
“You also play for the honor and we are ashamed of how we played in the first half. We all need to take a very good look in the mirror. Things have to be very different in the next period, let’s focus on that.
“It took us two years to fine-tune a system, just like we have to do now. These matches should also be seen as a learning opportunity, but we must take big steps and take our responsibility”.
Our No.4 has received his fair amount of personal criticism for his role in Federico Chiesa’s goal for Italy and it’s fair to say that it was far from a successful international camp for Ronald Koeman’s side.
After making 53 appearances this season, the 31-year-old has fully earned the break that awaits him and let’s hope this chance to turn off from football will provide him an opportunity to recharge his batteries ahead of a big season for the Reds.
You can watch van Dijk’s comments via NOS Sport:
#Ep76 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: Liverpool Transfer Committee Show!