Virgil van Dijk snapped at a reporter and made an admission over Trent Alexander-Arnold after Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday.
Tensions were high following the match at Stamford Bridge with Estevao Willian’s 95h-minute winner making it three losses in a row for the Reds, after Arne Slot’s men were beaten by Crystal Palace and Galatasaray.
Liverpool have now lost their spot at the top of the Premier League table with Arsenal the new leaders following their 2-0 victory over West Ham.
Van Dijk faced the media after Liverpool’s defeat at Chelsea and was left frustrated at a journalist who kept asking him about the club’s right-backs.
‘The right-back is not the issue if you [are trying to] do that,’ an irked Van Dijk told a reporter in the mixed zone, which was uploaded on the NBC Sports YouTube channel.
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‘You asked two questions about the right-backs. Maybe you feel like the right-back is the problem.’
Liverpool signed Jeremie Frimpong in the summer transfer window as their new No.1 right-back but he’s been struggling with a hamstring injury since the Reds’ opening Premier League win over AFC Bournemouth in August.
Conor Bradley and Dominik Szoboszlai have been playing at right-back in Frimpong’s absence.
Alexander-Arnold was Liverpool’s No.1 right-back last season – but the Reds lost him in the summer transfer window to Real Madrid.
Van Dijk has admitted that everyone at the club was left ‘gutted’ over Alexander-Arnold’s exit.
But Van Dijk is adamant that losing Alexander-Arnold is not the reason for Liverpool’s dip in recent weeks.
‘It’s not about him,’ Van Dijk said. ‘He had amazing quality but he left us.
‘Last year, we played a lot of games without him as well. Obviously we were all gutted that he left in the summer, but that is not the issue.’
‘It was always going to be a difficult season’
Van Dijk added: ‘It was always going to be a difficult season. I mentioned it from the very start.
‘We have to go through this as one, not only us as players but also the staff, and our fans who celebrated being champions, which is something we shouldn’t forget.
‘It is a bit ironic that we conceded in two different games at the last minute.
‘There is still plenty of work to do. We know in football, every three or four days, things can change and momentum can change.’