Liverpool's players are not tired, says David Fairclough, they're just not performing well enough.
Fairclough says Dalglish is protecting his Kop stars
Liverpool's players are not tired, says David Fairclough, they're just not performing well enough.
Kenny Dalglish's side suffered their fifth defeat in six Premier League games at home to Wigan on Saturday with the manager blaming tiredness and injuries for their slump in form.
However Fairclough, who played for Liverpool from 1974 to 1983, believes that while Dalglish is protecting his players in public, he will have a very different attitude towards them in private.
He told
Sky Sports News HD: "I don't go along with the tiredness excuse. I think the players have to stand up and hold their hands up and say they haven't performed.
"It's not like Kenny to come out publically and slam the players - he did it once earlier in the season after the Bolton defeat and it worked and he got a reaction - but you can't come out week after week blaming the players.
"I think Kenny's covering a little bit for the players. Kenny is an incredibly passionate competitor and he won't be taking this lightly.
"I think behind the scenes he'll have a slightly different attitude and he'll be letting the players know that clearly they're not playing as well as they can do.
"They're letting everybody down at the moment."
Hysteria
Liverpool are three points worse off than they were at the same stage of last season and need to pick up 16 points from their remaining eight games to match last season's points tally.
Their poor run - which has included defeats to Wigan, QPR and Sunderland - has seen some elements of the Anfield crowd turn against Dalglish, but Fairclough says the "hysteria" will die down once they return to winning ways.
He added: "At the moment everybody's feeling a bit down and they're saying one or two things that maybe they don't necessarily mean.
"There's a little bit of hysteria about the place, but it's a results business and results are key. Liverpool have been enjoying some success in the cup competitions, but that shouldn't be allowed to deflect from what the real goal is.
"The goal is to win the Premier League again and to be up there fighting with the top teams. Clearly Liverpool have not been doing that this season.
"While people are getting all excited, I think we've got to stick together, start doing the basic things well again and just make sure you do what you do well week after week."
Run
Despite their poor run in the league, Liverpool have enjoyed success in the cup competitions, winning the Carling Cup and progressing to the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
But while Fairclough has enjoyed the cup runs, he says the priority must be to produce a team capable of winning the league for the first time since 1990.
"Winning cups is a great habit to be in and we will clearly enjoy that," he said.
"But the main goal for Liverpool Football Club is to be winning the Premier League again. We haven't done it for so long and you can't afford to let it go continually.
"That is really the focus and whilst enjoying the cup wins and cup runs we have to make sure we have that consistency about our game and get the results that we are capable of.
"The side maybe isn't the most perfect team at the moment, it does need strengthening in one or two positions, but there's a lot of experience in that squad and some very good players in there."
