Van Dijk calls Community shield loss to Crystal Palace “disappointing”

Overview

• Liverpool suffered a shock defeat to Crystal Palace in the Community Shield.

• Captain Virgil van Dijk called the loss “disappointing”.

• Liverpool now turns their focus to defending their Premier League title, starting on 16 August.

Liverpool suffered a shock defeat to Crystal Palace in the FA Community Shield on 10 August 2025. Captain Virgil van Dijk called the loss “disappointing” as the team now turns their focus to defending their Premier League title, starting on 16 August.

Liverpool took the lead twice through new signings Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong. However, Palace came back each time to level the score at 2-2. The match went to penalties, where Liverpool lost 3-2 at Wembley.

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Speaking to ESPN, Van Dijk expressed his frustration with the result.

"Obviously today we lost so that is not a good start, but we will have to take it game by game. That is the mindset and has always been the mindset for us. It is going to be a very intense season in all competitions, and we have to be ready to show our quality in that sense."

He admitted there were positives but stressed the need for improvement.

"There were good things, but there are also plenty of things that we have to improve, and we have to work on and that is our plan now. You want to win this game, it is a final, it is a trophy that we play for, and that is a disappointing part of it."

"The players that come in bring quality to the team" - Van Dijk

Van Dijk praised the impact of Liverpool’s new arrivals but said that success requires more than talent.

"The players that come in bring quality to the team, players that are leaving, we wish them well in their next adventure and that is how football sometimes works," he said. "All the new boys in my opinion have settled in quite nicely, obviously it is important when you come to a new club to be able to show yourself immediately and you have to feel like you are welcome, and I think the boys are feeling just that. I think we have very good players, we have quality players; that is obviously a reason we won the Premier League last year, but not only because of quality but a lot of hard work and determination."

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Looking ahead to their league opener against Bournemouth, Van Dijk insisted there is still work to be done.

"There were many good things in this game, but there was a lot of work to do still and we have five more days to get ready for the start of the Premier League, and that is what we have to do."