CODY GAKPO revealed that Liverpool’s players held no-holds-barred crisis talks on Sunday in a bid to salvage their season.
And the main subject was about standing up to be counted and not simply allowing boss Arne Slot to carry the blame on his own for the Kop’s alarming slide.
The Dutch attacker insisted honesty had to be the best policy after the previous day’s 3-0 home humbling by Nottingham Forest, their sixth league defeat in seven.
Premier League champion Gakpo admitted: “After the game it was a kind of embarrassment as we lost at home in front of our fans.
“We know they are there to help us in every tough situation but we have to give them something back.
“I don’t want to say as players we were angry, but we tried to speak together and be honest with each other about what we have to do to perform better on the pitch.”
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The hard-talking discussions are understood to have been organised by the players themselves.
Gakpo, 26, stressed that it should not only be his fellow Dutchman Slot at whom fingers are pointed.
He added: “Everybody is aware we have to take responsibility on and off the pitch.
“This was a conversation you have with a team-mate, it wasn’t really a ‘meeting meeting’, but we’re aware we have to take responsibility.
“That’s what we spoke about, we are honest because otherwise there’s no point in speaking.”
Whether those talks will inspire a recovery, starting with tonight’s Champions League clash with his former club PSV Eindhoven, he cannot tell.
Skipper Virgil van Dijk let rip in the aftermath of the Forest defeat, calling into question the team’s fighting spirit and resilience.
Asked what has happened to the true grit of last season’s surge to the title and the late fightbacks that helped win this campaign’s first five Prem games in a row, VVD admitted: “I don’t know where it’s gone.
“But we should try to get that back because we know we’re in a difficult position.”
Despite their struggles this term, the Reds have had some standout victories, like beating Real Madrid 1-0 at Anfield earlier this month.
Slot slams ‘unbelievable’ Liverpool form
ARNE SLOT is living with the guilt of overseeing Liverpool’s “ridiculous and unbelievable” form.
The Reds boss takes his side into tonight’s Champions League clash with PSV Eindhoven on the back of a nightmare sequence of eight losses in 11 games.
Champions Liverpool were humiliated as Anfield fans walked out and booed during Saturday’s 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Under-pressure Slot said: “It is ridiculous, It is unbelievable.
“I take the responsibility. I feel guilty for it. We are busy working on it.
“There are a lot of reasons you can use to say you’ve had a defeat.
“But for Liverpool you can’t have it, it’s not acceptable.”
Van Dijk added: “We have to stick together and we have to do that on and off the pitch, mentally and performance-wise.
“It’s not been good, it’s not been the best of streaks and we have to fight through.
“We know we are capable as we’ve shown in good performances like the Real Madrid game. We have to keep fighting and the most important thing is we stick together.”
Gakpo, who moved to Anfield in 2023 for £37million and whose parents still live in Eindhoven, said: “We’ve shown we can fight back but also not been able to maintain that.
“I wouldn’t want to say it plays on your mind but when it happens a couple of times, then yes. That’s why we train — to change that.
“The most important thing is that we stick together. That we demand more from each other as we have to perform better — that’s what the club and fans deserve.
“We are being honest with each other that some things have to improve to get that back.
“If you win a lot of matches and everything is going your way, you always feel better.
“Now we just have to do better. The trainer takes responsibility but the players have a big responsibility and the manager and the fans.
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“We know what we can do but we aren’t letting it be seen.
“I definitely take responsibility and if we’re together in the dressing room we can get confidence from each other. We can do better if we do that.”
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