Virgil van Dijk admits he had a 'mediocre' season at Liverpool last year

Virgil van Dijk has admitted he underperformed during Liverpool's disappointing campaign last season.

Having won both domestic cup competitions and come within two games of a historic Quadruple in 2021-22, Liverpool were expected to challenge for major silverware again last term, but they finished outside the top four.

Van Dijk received some criticism for his own performances, and has conceded that some of it was warranted as he fell below his usual high standards at club and international level.

'I take some criticism seriously, but not all. I know very well when I play well and when I don’t. Last season was just mediocre, sometimes even bad,' Van Dijk told Dutch outlet Algemeen Dagblad.

'As a team we also struggled to find a good rhythm at Liverpool. The Nations League with the Dutch team was also not good.'

Jurgen Klopp's side have looked somewhere near their best again this season, and find themselves just a point behind Manchester City at the top of the table.

Their positive start to the season has coincided with Van Dijk's return to form, and the Dutch defender has revealed he is much happier with how he is currently playing.

The 32-year-old suggested his drop-off last season may have been due to him not trusting his body after suffering a serious knee injury following a tackle from Jordan Pickford in October 2020, but he has claimed that is no longer on his mind.

'I have thought and talked about it (last season's issues) a lot to be able to turn that around. That worked, I think. Things have been going very well again since the summer,' Van Dijk added.

'My injury was very serious, it is not surprising that you have to get to know your knee again, so to speak. But now I don’t notice it anymore. I haven’t had to change