Virgil van Dijk has dismissed suggestions of unrest within Liverpool The team insists there is no “anomaly” behind the scenes and warns that social media scrutiny will pose an increasing challenge to future generations of players.

Liverpool have endured an uneven campaign and are in sixth place Premier LeagueHad gone five league games without a win before Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Newcastle.

Despite guiding the club to the title last season, head coach Arne Slott faced external criticism during that spell.

“It’s the same with our players. If you don’t perform you get criticism and that’s part and parcel of the game,” Van Dijk said.

“We have to perform. We haven’t done it on a consistent basis but unfortunately we talk about it every three or four days.

“Saturday’s performance was good and the same for midweek (against Qarabag). Now we have work to do this week. Man City And do it again.”

When asked if Slott deserved more respect, Van Dijk questioned the source of the criticism.

“Who disrespects him? That’s the question,” he said. “Are insults given by people that we should not appreciate their disrespect?

“I can also think about disrespecting players. Who disrespects players? Is it someone you value, is it a significant show of disrespect or someone you just let slide and instead focus on the task ahead to succeed as a Liverpool player?”

The centre-back also highlighted the impact of social media on modern players.

“If you’re going to read all this stuff, one week you can be a hero and the next week a villain,” he said. “I talked last week about how it’s getting worse and more difficult every year. It’s going to be a huge challenge for the next generation.

“Every era has its challenges and that part outside of the game is going to be a big challenge for the next generation, and it’s already a challenge for this generation.”

Van Dijk insisted that despite the recent results, there are no internal problems in the team.

“The fact is we’re Premier League champions and we’re not good enough on a consistent basis. That’s just a fact,” he said. “Criticism comes and it is something we have to accept.

“I don’t think there’s any question about unity internally. I don’t think there’s any dissonance. There are obviously challenges that happen and everyone is dealing with certain situations differently.

“It’s about dealing with it together, fixing it and changing things around. It’s something that makes you stronger as a team.”