Virgil van Dijk says Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is right to be unhappy despite the Reds' best ever start to a Premier League season.
Klopp was a frustrated, animated figure on the touchline as his side stumbled to a 1-0 win at struggling Huddersfield Town at the weekend.
The Liverpool boss afterwards claimed he was “not angry” with the display but was insistent the players should expect better of themselves, despite yet another clean sheet that means they have conceded a club record low of just three goals in their first nine league games in a season.
And club record signing van Dijk said: “He has every right not to be happy. He is the boss and obviously wants the best from all of us, the best for the club and wants us to play well.
“You are not going to dominate every game and play well every game but considering how we played it was a great result to keep a clean sheet.
“That’s all good but we could have done a bit better, perhaps made it easier for ourselves.
“At times they (Huddersfield) made it look more dangerous than it really was and they had their moments where if they did a little better they could have scored.”
Klopp had stated the trip to the John Smith’s Stadium was a “100% trap”, coming after the international break with Liverpool having failed to win any of their six previous away games against teams that started the day in the relegation zone report the Liverpool Echo .
“It is difficult after an international break,” said van Dijk. “You only train one or two days together and you try to prepare as good as possible. I think we did.
“For us, we must just be happy that we won. These games are very important for us.
“We knew it (was a trap) and we knew their strengths, which they showed at times.”
Liverpool are next in action on Wednesday when they entertain Serbian champions Red Star Belgrade in their latest Champions League group fixture.
The Reds are second in Group C after following a thrilling 3-2 victory over Paris Saint-Germain with a disappointing 1-0 reverse to Napoli in Italy.
Of Liverpool’s eight wins this season, only three have come by more than one goal and Van Dijk admits putting teams to bed has become an imperative.
“That is what we try,” said the Dutch defender. “I think everyone is giving their all. Obviously we have things to improve up front and also at the back.
“Wednesday will be a very good game to play against a very good opponent. It is another Champions League night at Anfield and I am sure we will recover from the weekend and make sure we will be ready.
“We need to respect the opponent. They are in the Champions League - the best competitions in Europe apart from the Premier League - and it will be a hard game.”
Mohamed Salah’s first away goal since April 21 earned Liverpool victory at the weekend, ending a four-game spell without a goal for the Egyptian.
And Van Dijk added: “It was important for everyone but, of course, it was good for him to score.
“I was very happy for him but I wasn’t in any doubt that he would score again because he is such a good player.”
