Dominik Szoboszlai has accused Liverpool of lacking fighting spirit as they crashed out of the FA Cup in a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Manchester City.
And the midfielder warned their season could end badly if they don’t show enough hunger again when they face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Manager Arne Slot said it was an “unbelievable disappointment” and was critical of Liverpool’s defending in an 18-minute spell either side of half-time at the Etihad Stadium when they conceded four times, with Erling Haaland scoring a hat-trick and Antoine Semenyo getting City’s other goal as they reached an eighth consecutive FA Cup semi-final.
And Szoboszlai told TNT Sports: “The fighting spirit wasn’t there enough. The mentality wasn’t there enough. None of us were there to be honest as much as we could.
“It’s a hard time but we have to stick together. On Wednesday there is another chance but we have to get in our head this is not the season we would like to end.
“We had chances and missed them, we conceded an easy penalty. We lose 4-0. We cannot concede as much as we concede. It’s hard to find words, to be honest. We wanted this one so much. You lose 4-0 at City and it’s not the best.”
Slot said: “That is an unbelievable disappointment. The 20 minutes where we conceded the four goals were not of our standard. If we play against PSG or Man City, teams of this level, you need to defend better than we did in the 20 minutes when we conceded the four goals.
“Twice we conceded when we had a throw-in. The second goal was a similar one we conceded earlier on this season, over here. And the second time we conceded just before half-time, playing Man City. I missed the fighting spirit definitely in the first 10 minutes after half-time. And then afterwards, it was just a game where both teams accepted it was 4-0.
“But in those 10-15 minutes of time, I missed the fighting spirit, but just the willingness to win your duel, to be there first, to make it difficult for either a pass or a cross or a finish. That is something we definitely have to do better on Wednesday.”
