Captain Virgil van Dijk believes Liverpool lack consistency but not togetherness after the club’s hopes of Champions League qualification were dealt a blow by Saturday’s last-gasp 3-2 loss at Bournemouth.
The reigning Premier League champions fought back from two goals down at the Vitality Stadium, only for Cherries winger Amine Adli to score the winner with virtually the last kick of the game.
Although Liverpool arrived in Dorset on a 13-match unbeaten run after a 3-0 European win in Marseille, they had drawn their previous four top-flight fixtures and have now picked up just four points from a possible 15 in 2026.
Arne Slot’s Reds, who are well adrift of leaders Arsenal, face a battle to finish in the top four following another setback in a dismal title defence.
“I don’t think there’s any question about our togetherness,” Van Dijk said, according to Liverpool’s website.
“But the consistency that we’re looking for, that’s something that still needs to be found. That’s the reality.
“There was a lot of praise for our performances, a lot of individual praise, and we know how it works and three days later [after Marseille] you lose a game like we did and the other side of the world comes out. That’s something we have to deal with.
“But we want to perform, we want to win games and it didn’t happen unfortunately.”
Van Dijk defended his own display in wet and windy conditions on the south coast.
The centre-back misjudged a ball in behind ahead of Evanilson’s 26th-minute opener, played Álex Jiménez onside for Bournemouth’s second and failed to deal with a long throw into the box before Adli’s added-time winner.
Liverpool were temporarily down to 10 men at the time of Jimenez’s 33rd-minute finish as substitute Wataru Endo was waiting to come on for the injured Joe Gomez.
Van Dijk, who halved his team’s deficit on the stroke of half-time before Dominik Szoboszlai lashed home an 80th-minute equaliser, said of Adli’s goal: “What I felt on the pitch was that I was clearly blocked, but obviously the ref and VAR don’t give it and that’s something we then have to accept.
“In my opinion, I was blocked.
“The first goal, it was a difficult ball to judge during the circumstances — the wind was very tricky. I think you saw it especially when we played long balls on their side, it was very difficult to judge.
“And then obviously when we were with 10 men, you can argue that you have to maybe kick the ball out or not. But to concede those two goals in a short period is obviously not good at all.”
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Following an 11-match winless run, Bournemouth have taken seven points from a possible nine amid the sale of top scorer Antoine Semenyo and injury issues to ease fears of being dragged into a relegation scrap.
Morocco winger Adli, who has started the Cherries’ last two league games in place of Semenyo, told his club’s website: “I’m a team player. To see my team-mates happy is the most important thing for me.
“When you see the dressing room, all the staff so happy.
“The fans celebrating, going mad in the stadium — that’s sensational. We share these moments together.
“It hasn’t been an easy situation [the injuries and the winless run], but everyone is behind each other. This victory is massive for us.”
