Dominik Szoboszlai delivered a blunt assessment of Liverpool\u2019s display after Saturday\u2019s 4-0 FA Cup defeat to Manchester City, saying the team lacked the required mentality and commitment in key moments. The midfielder singled out a missing collective will to compete as the reason for the heavy loss and the cup exit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fighting spirit wasn\u2019t there enough. The mentality wasn\u2019t there enough. None of us were there to be honest as much as we could,\u201d Szoboszlai said after the final whistle. He expanded on the frustration, adding: \u201cI don\u2019t know [why it happens]. It\u2019s hard to find words to be honest. We wanted this one so much. You lose 4\u20130 at City and it\u2019s not the best. I always say when we do [fight] we are winning, when we don\u2019t do it we are losing. You have to fight, work hard, be there for each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what we are missing sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Szoboszlai\u2019s comments were put to Slot, the Dutchman narrowed his concern to the opening period after half time. City led by two at the interval and scored their third and fourth within 12 minutes of the restart. Slot pointed to specific moments that shifted the game and to a lack of intensity after the break.<\/p>\n
\u201cI should ask Dom what he means and in what period of time,\u201d Slot said. \u201cI did not feel this until the moment they scored to make it 1\u20130. At 1\u20130 we were still in the game, but twice we conceded from us having a throw-in. They are fast but those are the moments where you have to defend sharper.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe second goal was similar to one we conceded here earlier this season and again we conceded just before half time here. I missed the fighting spirit definitely in the first 10 minutes after half time. Afterwards that it was just a game where both teams accepted it was 4\u20130.<\/p>\n
\u201cI missed fighting spirit in that period and the willingness to win the duel, to be there first and to make it difficult for either a pass, a cross or a finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Slot added that individual lapses around runs, crosses and duels explained the goals conceded. With the FA Cup gone, Liverpool now turn their focus to the Champions League quarterfinal against Paris Saint-Germain. Szoboszlai urged unity ahead of that tie: \u201cIt\u2019s a hard time but we have to stick together,\u201d Szoboszlai said. \u201cOn Wednesday there is another chance but we have to get it in our head this is not the season we would like to end.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Szoboszlai: “The fighting spirit wasn’t there enough” after Liverpool’s 4-0 FA Cup exit urged unity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,1056],"tags":[1505,1047],"class_list":["post-10836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool","category-man-city","tag-accountability","tag-champions-league"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}