Joel Matip thinks struggling Liverpool must go back to their "successful roots" in order to reverse their underwhelming start to the season.
Jurgen Klopp's men won both domestic cups and finished as Premier League and Champions League runners-up last season, but have made a stuttering start to the 2022-23 campaign.
Liverpool were thrashed 4-1 by Napoli in their opening game in Group A last week, the heaviest defeat by a Premier League side in their first game of a Champions League campaign since Arsenal lost 3-0 to Inter in 2003-04.
They have also drawn three and lost one of their six Premier League games so far, and speaking at a news conference on Monday, Matip revealed the players have made it clear to one another that their current standards are unacceptable.
"I think in the team we are all quite clear; sometimes it hurts, this is normal, but as a good team, which I think we are, you can speak out this truth," the defender said.
"You don't like to hear them maybe in the first moments sometimes, but everybody knows that something has to happen and that we have to improve.
"We have to work on these kinds of things and for these kinds of things you have to talk.
"There was a big focus on defending [after losing to Napoli] because this is the biggest thing to get successful. I think this is the first step, defend good.
"I think it always helps if you go back to the roots and these are successful roots. If you're based on this, this can give you help for a struggling time."
Matip has made just one start for Liverpool this season after struggling with injury, but came off the bench in their last two games and could be in line to start against Ajax on Tuesday.
The 31-year-old has been at Anfield since 2016 after arriving on a free transfer from Schalke, and has accepted his status as a role model for younger players, especially when things are not going well.
"You need to lead, you need to talk with each other and need to help each other," he added.
"That's the only [way], you cannot go as a person out of this, only as a team. For this, you need to have team-mates and you need to help your team-mates.
"If you are old and experienced, you should do it."
Slot believes Liverpool have 'many challenges to come' in Premier League title race
Arne Slot envisages "many challenges to come" in Liverpool's Premier League title race, despite his side moving five points clear at the top of the table with victory on Saturday.
The Reds capitalised on Manchester City's slip at Brighton by taking all three points in a 2-0 win over Aston Villa to establish breathing space at the summit.
Darwin Nunez gave the hosts the lead at Anfield as he capitalised after a quick counter, before Mohamed Salah did the same six minutes from time to secure all three points.
While Slot was pleased by the outcome, he is aware the cushion at the top does not guarantee a smooth run in their title challenge.
"It wasn't easy, like most of our games have been now," he told TNT Sport. "Aston Villa were maybe not as aggressive as we thought they would be.
"We were patient. One thing they are very good at is set-pieces. In general, we had control over the game and scored from two counter-attacks, which is maybe not what we would expect.
"If I look at the games that are ahead, they are tough. It will be a tough season in general. Margins are small, we have a margin, but it is small. [There are] many challenges to come for us."
Slot has got off to a fine start since succeeding Jurgen Klopp as manager at the start of the season, as he became just the fourth manager to win as many as nine of his first 11 Premier League games in charge, after John Gregory, Guus Hiddink, and Carlo Ancelotti.
Liverpool now have 28 points in the league. They have only previously equalled this total once after 11 games, in their title-winning season of 2019-20 (31).
Equally, no manager has ever won more points from their first 11 games in the competition than Slot. The Dutchman is not concerned by totals or margins, however, with his focus remaining on the philosophy he wants to instil at Anfield.
"As a manager, if you come into a new club, you don't think about how many points after how many games," he told BBC Match of the Day. "You think about changing the style or keeping it as it was.
"To change the style, you have to do a lot of things on the training ground and in meetings. The only thing I have thought about is how to implement the playing style, and how to make sure the players keep working as hard as they can."
Emery demands improvement from Aston Villa
Unai Emery urged his side to “keep improving” after Saturday's 2-0 defeat at the hands of Premier League leaders Liverpool at Anfield.
Aston Villa have now lost four successive games in all competitions for the first time since April 2022.
They have also lost consecutive league matches for the first time since May 2023, after breakaway goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah sent Arne Slot's team five points clear at the top of the standings.
Emery was pragmatic in defeat but insisted his side need to up their game if they are to match the levels they set last season.
"We have to keep improving, recover some players who have just come back after long injuries. Some players are not in the same performance level as last year but today they were a bit better," he told TNT Sports.
"This year a lot of players have come back from long injuries. We have to try to keep the same positive attitude and mentality and try to accept the results that we have had this week.
"The league is tight, there are a lot of teams performing very well and we have to accept that we need to improve. We are under our level from last year a little bit but I am still confident."
Villa have recently seen the return of Tyrone Mings from a long-term injury, but there was further concern for Emery when Jacob Ramsey sustained an apparent hamstring issue late in the first half.
The Villans did have their chances at Anfield, with Amadou Onana and Diego Carlos forcing good saves out of Caoimhin Kelleher.
Indeed, Villa posted 1.5 expected goals (xG), compared to Liverpool's 2.02.
"Liverpool dominated at times but they did not have a lot of clear chances to score," reflected Emery.
"We did our work and we had the chances to score in the first half, in the second half, and we played more or less in the way I wanted."
Villa took 12 shots during the match, only two less than Liverpool (14), with an equal number coming from inside the box (nine each).
They also had shouts for a penalty prior to Liverpool's second goal when Pau Torres went down after he had his shirt pulled in the box, but their appeals were waved away.
"We have to try to be consistent in how we are building and responding. We have to compete and build a team, but we played the match we planned," Emery said, as reported by the Premier League's official website.
"We had chances to score, we had one penalty, maybe a potential penalty, for me, it's clear. With VAR, it was not but I have to accept the decision."
Emery also feels Villa lost to a team that are clear title contenders.
"They started better than us, they are contenders to win the title, but I think you have to try to get our way, and we are in this process," he said. "I am positive."
Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa: Salah stars as Premier League leaders move five points clear
Mohamed Salah played a starring role as Liverpool beat Aston Villa 2-0 at Anfield to move five points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Arne Slot’s in-form side took full advantage of Manchester City’s defeat at Brighton earlier on Saturday, with Salah scoring one and setting up another to condemn Villa to their second straight league defeat.
Benefitting from Salah's fantastic work, Darwin Nunez broke the deadlock in the 20th minute, firing home from a tight angle.
Unai Emery's team did have chances of their own, with Caoimhin Kelleher making brilliant saves to deny Amadou Onana and Diego Carlos, while Villa also had a penalty appeal turned down after a VAR check.
But Salah ensured the home faithful could relax when he prodded over Emiliano Martinez on the counter in the 84th minute.
While Liverpool, with nine wins from 11, sit pretty at the top, Villa are in eighth, level on points with Fulham, Arsenal and Chelsea.
Data Debrief: Nunez and Salah are Slot's deadly duo
Since the start of 2022-23, only Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne (15) have combined for more Premier League goals than Nunez and Salah (12), who were the difference-makers this time around.
Salah became the first player to reach double figures for both goals (10) and assists (10) for a big five European League side in all competitions this season. He has now achieved this in each of his last four seasons at Liverpool.
Nunez, meanwhile, has been involved in 12 goals in his last 16 Premier League starts for Liverpool (eight goals, four assists), including three goals in his last five top-flight starts at Anfield.
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