Virgil van Dijk has urged Liverpool to “stay calm” if they want to win the Premier League as he slammed the “absolutely ridiculous” criticism faced in recent weeks.
The Red claimed a first Premier League win since September on Saturday night by defeating Aston Villa 2-0 after goals from Mohamed Salah and Ryan Gravenberch either side of half-time.
The victory over Unai Emery’s side, which came after a run of six defeats from seven in all competitions, moved Liverpool up to third in the Premier League.
But Van Dijk has urged his team-mates not to get too carried away with the victory after a testing couple of weeks resulted in a lot of outside “noise” at Anfield.
“What I have noticed over the last couple of weeks especially is that there is a lot of noise that you have no control over and that we have to deal with as a team,” the Liverpool captain told TNT Sports.
“Some of those takes are absolutely ridiculous. But you have to deal with that. It’s outside noise that can reach certain players, the group. It’s about sticking together.
“We’re not going out there on the pitch to lose games, we’re not going out there to be disappointed after games or leave fans disappointed going home, we want to work our socks off and win games. But there’s no guarantee.
“You play in the Premier League, the highest level, in the biggest league in the world, and it’s difficult to stay calm but you have to do if you want to get back to where we want to be. That’s up there. But that’s something for later in the season to look at.
“Now it’s time to keep working, never get too high, never get too low.
“We live in a world now, for footballers at least, because that’s the only thing I can speak about, where everyone can have their opinion on so many platforms and everyone knows it better.
“It sounded like we were in the relegation battle!”
“We have to try to stay away from that and focus on the hard work we’ve been doing.
“Last season we didn’t hear much negative stuff. Everything was sunshine and rainbows everywhere. Now it sounded like, by the outside world, we’re going to be in the relegation battle, so that’s how it works in the world.”
After Premier League defeats at the hands of Brentford, Man United, Chelsea and Crystal Palace in recent weeks, Saturday night saw Liverpool trim the gap to leaders Arsenal down to seven points as they climbed up to third.
However, the Reds could end the weekend outside the Champions League places if Man City and Sunderland are able to win their respective fixtures against Bournemouth and Everton.
Next up for Arne Slot‘s side is a Champions League clash against Real Madrid on Tuesday, before making the short trip to the Etihad next weekend to face Man City.