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Virgil van Dijk admitted Liverpool were below average in the defeat of Community Shield against Manchester City.
The two teams were separated by a single point in the Premier League last season and it took a shot on goal to separate them in the season opener at Wembley.
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The normally strong Reds defense has been repeatedly violated by City at Wembley
Goalkeeper Claudio Bravo made the decisive intervention, saving Georginio Wijnaldum's second Liverpool penalty on which Gabriel Jesus scored the decisive blow.
City led for almost all the normal time after former Liverpool striker, Raheem Sterling, scored for the first time against his former club in the 12th minute.
Liverpool, the winner of the Champions League, responded well and went close to the goal before his replacement Joel Matip was tied at 13 minutes from the end.
But this was not the case for the Reds and, after being eliminated for the first time in 65 breathtaking matches, Van Dijk conceded that the performance was not up to par.
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The Reds had to walk the long steps down Wembley's steps
"Well, I think everyone knows that the first half was not the best," admitted Van Dijk. "We did not play the best football we could normally play.
"In the second half, we put more pressure on them and kept the ball faster.
"We've created opportunities but, you know, it's also part of football."
The matches between City and the Reds in the Premier League were also clear and highlighted the difference in clbad between the two teams and the rest of the division.
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The city lifted the community shield in the traditional curtain lift of the seasons
But with their rivals spending money this summer, the Dutch captain is confident that this season will be much tighter than the last campaign before his first game against Norwich on Friday night.
"The problem is that more teams have improved around us," he added.
"So it's going to be hard for both of us [Man City and Liverpool], everyone is talking about how it will be a two horse race, but we can not think too far.
"We have to play match by match and for us, the league starts on Friday.
Champions League heroes Liverpool, Van Dijk and Wijnaldum, cheered on the eve of their entry into the Dutch team
"We want to win the match thanks to a good football but, if necessary, we will also correct it because Norwich is not a bad side either.
It seems that the teams around us have improved, which we all expected, so we'll see. "
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