Your evening Liverpool headlines on Wednesday, September 14.
Virgil van Dijk fronts up to media with brutally honest take on Liverpool situation
Virgil van Dijk was likely squirming in his seat when Jurgen Klopp replayed the Naples "horror show" back to his Liverpool players at the AXA Centre last Friday.
A miserable 4-1 defeat to Napoli on Wednesday of last week led to Klopp labelling it the worst performance of his near seven years at Anfield and the players were made sure they knew about it during what was said to be a particularly candid and forthright team meeting that was called to analyse just what went wrong in Italy.
Van Dijk was not especially culpable for the Napoli nightmare but the £75m Dutch defender sees the concession of Liverpool goals as a personal affront and a disappointing opening month to the season reached a nadir at the Maradona Stadium.
A week on, the picture is looking a little healthier at least: Tuesday's 2-1 win over Ajax has got the Reds back to winning ways and kick-started their Group A campaign in the Champions League.
Paul Gorst has more, here.
Harvey Elliott may need a step back for Liverpool midfield to move forward
It was akin to a seasoned band getting back together to rehearse after a lengthy hiatus.
The personnel were largely in place, the instruments primed, the songbook fully memorised. But there were obvious signs of beats being missed and matters out of tune before something approaching a groove was hit on occasionally.
Such was the case for Liverpool against Ajax on Tuesday as they took the first step on the road to Champions League redemption and dragging their inconsistent campaign back on track.
Yes, the performance wasn't wholly convincing, nowhere near as tight and impressive as has become the norm. However, they hit far more high notes than during last Wednesday's Neapolitan nightmare.
The subsequent days of hard talking and intense analysis following the harrowing events at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona have already started to bear fruit. As Joel Matip indicated earlier this week, it isn't just one problem Liverpool are having to address but several.
READ NEXT:
- 'Like a beaten boxer' - Dutch media make telling admission after Liverpool beat Ajax
- Nagelsmann shares Sadio Mane concern amid Bayern struggles after Liverpool move
-
Liverpool analysis - Thiago masterclass changes it all as three players become undroppable
-
What happened to all 33 Brendan Rodgers signings at Liverpool
-
'Does not lie' - Ajax star makes admission over Liverpool winner amid Anfield claim
