"That is a big problem for me right now" - Theo Walcott explains what Liverpool have to do in order to get back to their best

Theo Walcott has raised questions about Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk's form this season. He said that the physical side of the team has dropped, leading to their disappointing performances.

The Merseysiders won the Premier League title last season, but their performances have dropped this season. After securing some narrow wins at the start of the campaign, they have lost five of their last six games across competitions. They have lost their last four league games and are seventh in the standings, seven points behind leaders Arsenal.

Amidst this, Theo Walcott has shared thoughts on Van Dijk's form, saying (h/t Metro):

"You have Virgil van Dijk who looks an absolute shadow of a player, Konate has been up and down. There is no structure to the way they play now, there’s no balance. Virgil used to have a solid brick in front of him in Gravenberch but now he has no one at times and you have players who don’t want to comit to tackles."

"The physical side of it has gone out of the window, so for me Liverpool need to go back to basics and forget about the egos because that is a big problem for me right now," he added.

Liverpool have kept just three clean sheets in 14 games across competitions this season.

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Theo Walcott further explains reasons behind Liverpool's poor form

The Merseysiders spent almost £450 million in the summer, signing the likes of Alexander Isak, Jeremie Frimpong, and Florian Wirtz, among others. They also saw the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz, and Darwin Nunez leave.

Former Arsenal and England attacker Theo Walcott believes Arne Slot is "overthinking", and said:

"I feel that they are overthinking quite a lot and that comes down to the manager. When they signed loads of players we all went ‘Oh they are going to win the league, they’ve signed all these players’ and it was like a fantasy league."

"Now when you look at the bigger picture and try to implement your style onto a team that didn’t actually have to change that much because it wasn’t broken. Trying to implement five, six, seven new players into a title-winning team doesn’t happen often. You don’t have to tweak too much when you win the league, you really don’t, and I think there are players who aren’t themselves because they are overthinking and they are not playing as a team," he added.

Liverpool will next face Crystal Palace at Anfield in the EFL Cup Fourth Round on Wednesday, October 29.