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Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk felt that his side was too "sloppy" at the back as it fell to a rare Anfield defeat against Manchester United in the Premier League.
The Reds are now third in the standings, behind both Arsenal and Manchester City, and the Dutchman has urged patience after a difficult spell. Arne Slot's side have now lost four times in a row, something no Liverpool team has done since November 2014.
"I think we conceded a very sloppy second goal," Van Dijk said live on Sky Sports. "We worked so hard to get back into the game and we created great opportunities to score the winner.
"But if you concede a second goal like that, that is the disappointing part. If you look at the game as a whole, we were far too rushed.
"I think they were very patient. They didn't press us high but they didn't let us on the ball. We still created many opportunities to score, but the reality is that we lost."
Cody Gakpo got Liverpool back into the game after Bryan Mbeumo's opening goal less than two minutes in. But Harry Maguire then powerfully headed home a Bruno Fernandes cross to secure the points.
"It is an interesting time because we have to stick together, not just us as players but as a club and the fans who want us to win," Van Dijk continued.
On the first goal, he added: "I think the ball went long, first header was a United player, second by me. My elbow hit the player and he goes down and I went down.
"From that angle, it was difficult to score and he did. There was plenty of football left to be played [and score] and we didn't.
"We need to stay humble and stay working and keep our confidence as high as possible.
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"When things get tough, it is important we keep the mentality of being there for each other. It is a long season."
Liverpool faces Eintracht Frankfurt next in the Champions League. It then has a trip to Brentford to take on Keith Andrews' side in West London next weekend.
Liverpool.com says: Slot has to find a way of getting back to basics. Right now, the Liverpool team is wide open from back to front and the pressure is on to score three goals every week because there are so many chances being conceded.
There is no reason to panic just yet, but things will have to improve pretty quickly for Liverpool to remain in touching distance of the two teams above them. Arsenal and even Manchester City, at the moment, look much more complete.
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