Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish hit out at his much-changed side after they produced a limp display to slide to a 1-0 home defeat to Fulham.
Liverpool manager unimpressed with players after Fulham reverse
Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish hit out at his much-changed side after they produced a limp display to slide to a 1-0 defeat to Fulham at Anfield.
Dalglish rang the changes ahead of Saturday's FA Cup final with Chelsea, but any hopes the incoming players had of forcing their way into his plans evaporated as the Cottagers claimed their first-ever victory at the home of the Reds.
The only goal of the game came as early as the fifth minute when Clint Dempsey fed John Arne Riise, with his drilled low cross flicking off Alex Kacaniklic before the unfortunate Martin Skrtel could only divert the ball beyond the helpless Alexander Doni.
Dalglish admitted after the game that he may have made a mistake in resting so many of his key men ahead of the Wembley showpiece this weekend, but felt the players on duty on Tuesday night had let the club down.
"The attitude and approach to the game is where it went wrong," he told
Sky Sports.
Wrong
"Maybe I was culpable for trying to give as many of them a game as I possibly could to put them in the frame for Saturday.
"The attitude and desire wasn't there. We can't play at that tempo, we have to play quicker than that.
"There were one or two who did well, but apart from that it was not a good night for us, myself included. There is a lot of people of have got to take responsibility for it.
"We tried to be fair and give everyone an opportunity. Maybe I was wrong.
"This won't affect the performance on Saturday, but it is disappointing because every game is important.
"There are people who come along to support us and they deserve a better performance than that."
Carroll
One positive for Dalglish was the return of Andy Carroll, who missed Saturday's victory away to Norwich through injury, but completed the full 90 minutes and put in a good shift.
"It was nice to see the big man back," Dalglish added.
"He had a niggle at the weekend, but he's back, he's fit, he has played the 90 minutes so that is good for us."
