Ahead of the Super Sunday clash against Manchester City, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk sat down with Gary Neville for a wide-ranging interview.
The reigning Premier League champions have had a difficult campaign and are two points outside the top four heading into this weekend's round of fixtures.
They are a further eight points behind Manchester City - who are second - and 14 points behind league leaders Arsenal.
in November but the Reds have won their last two matches by a 10-1 scoreline, and will have a boost in confidence heading into Sunday's match at Anfield.
Van Dijk discussed the Reds' form this season and what has changed, the importance of Champions League football and much more with Your Site pundit Neville...
"You can't put it on one particular point.
"It's the transition, the intensity, the decision-making, it's sometimes luck, because that's part of the game. It can either go your way or the other way. The first five games of the season, we have to be on the right side, and there have been games after that where we've not been on the right side.
"It's a process that we have to get through, personally as players, but as a team as well.
"It [the intensity] is playing every three or four days, Champions League football, travelling, physical demands, but also the mental side of it.
"It's a game of 11 players on the pitch, but in total, it's 14 or 15 that have to try and win the game and everyone is dealing with certain things in a certain way. I'm trying to help each and every one of them, because I want the best for the club, I want the best for the players.
"It's a process that we have to get through, and with how inconsistent it has been, it's tough to take.
"For me personally, it hurts being on the losing side, which I've not been on many times in my Liverpool career. It's been a consistent side over all those years, and now being in a position where we are having good games, and then dropping down, that's something we have to take on board and improve, and do that together.
"Some of the games, the demands and the way that teams are playing against us makes us adapt a little bit in certain things, but most of the time we're trying to do the same or better in possession, how an opponent is pressing.
"But at times, we have not been able to do that for 90-plus minutes, and that's been a very big issue, especially in the first part of the season."
Asked if he was referring to players that have come into the club and the demands of playing for Liverpool, Van Dijk said: "That's definitely a part, but also for the players that have been here, being the [Premier League] champions is something that you have to deal with.
"The pressure that comes with it and it's not as easy as everyone would think it is. It's very difficult to retain a title, regardless. We couldn't do it the last time we became champions, and unfortunately we can't do it this year."
Van Dijk was asked if Liverpool need to be playing in the Champions League next season. "100 per cent," he said, "because I want to play Champions League football and everyone else wants to as well.
"But going into my last season [of his current contract], I need to play Champions League football, so we're working very hard to make sure that we do that.
"I still feel this season could still be special, even after all the difficulties we had over the summer, during the first part of the season and with injuries. We're in the Champions League, we're in the FA Cup still, so we'll see what happens.
"But we need consistency, we need to work, we need to enjoy it as well, because we are very privileged to be able to go out there every time, represent the club and play good football."
Earlier this season, Van Dijk was involved in a back-and-forth with former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney over his critiques of the defender.
The two appeared together on Amazon Prime where the Reds skipper confronted Rooney over his comments after Liverpool had beaten Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Van Dijk believes ex-players turned pundits must be careful with their criticism, given the current climate of social media and sensationalist headlines.
"For me personally, I can deal with it, but I'm a bit worried for the next generation. I feel like the ex-top players have a responsibility to the new generation.
"Criticism is absolutely normal and part of the game, and I think it should stay that way. But sometimes criticism also goes into being clickbait, saying things to provoke things, and without thinking about the repercussions for a mental side of players, and especially the younger generation, who are constantly on social media.
"You can say, 'yeah, you shouldn't be on social media' - that's what I've mentioned [to them] loads of times.
"There is always this thing of when you play a good game, younger players check all the positive praises, but when you have a worse game, and you're getting bullied all over social media or you're getting bad criticism, it can really affect you. I've seen that in certain players in the past, and currently as well, because it's just not easy.
"It's going to get worse and worse because the platforms nowadays, with the clickbait and the headlines, everyone is on it constantly.
"I feel like especially the ex-pros, top players who have been through everything as well, they have this responsibility of protecting a little bit of that side as well. That's something maybe to look at."
Van Dijk turns 35 in July and has 18 months left on his current Liverpool deal, with retirement plans now surely in his thoughts.
On if he would go into punditry himself, Van Dijk said: "I'd never say never, because I feel like I have that platform of saying or doing the right thing, but I don't see myself being a pundit.
"I don't think I see myself being a coach. I feel like you're stepping from one world in terms of being under pressure constantly - not that I don't like it because it's part of what I wanted to be - to then quitting for a little bit and then go back in it, and then also have no control really of what's going to happen on the pitch.
"I really like inspiring the next generation. I'm at the academy quite a lot because I feel like those are the guys that are eventually going to keep Liverpool up there.
"I have my own youth tournament and I want to make sure it's the biggest U13s tournament in the world, so something with that. I know what it brings to those youngsters, and I really like that. But let's see, there's plenty of time."
On facing Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, Van Dijk said :"He is an amazing striker, and I've played against Erling for so many years now. He's a modern-day striker - strong, fast, a born goal-scorer, and it will be tough.
"The game over there was very tough and it could be a totally different game if we take it back, but in the end, the second half, we had a well-deserved loss there.
"But Sunday is another opportunity, a game that's always been difficult, it's been a very good atmosphere, and it's something to look forward to. It'll be good to be there again with each other."
