Hungary international bemoans poor mentality following third Liverpool loss of the season to City
Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai criticised his side’s mentality following their heavy 4-0 defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup, admitting it was “hard to find the words” to explain the performance.
Arne Slot’s team started brightly at the Etihad Stadium but collapsed either side of half-time, conceding four goals in a damaging 20-minute spell. The loss is the heaviest defeat of Slot’s tenure and Liverpool’s biggest since October 2020.
The result also threw Liverpool’s misery this term into relief. They have now won just two of 19 matches in which they have fallen behind.
“When you do something and there is no result for it, it makes no sense,” Szoboszlai, who has been by far the club’s best performer this season, said. “We had chances and missed them; we conceded an easy penalty. We lose 4-0. We cannot concede as much as we concede. Nothing else to say.
“It’s hard to win here. After 1-0 down you still believe. At 2-0 down, it’s our own fault to come in at half-time conceding in the last minute another goal. At 2-0 the chances are lower and lower. You come out and want to show we are able to come back and you concede a third one, from then on there is no more chance to come back.
“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.”
Liverpool have now lost three times to City this season. Szoboszlai said he had no idea why his team were unable to compete with Pep Guardiola’s side.
It’s hard to find words to be honest,” said the Hungarian. “We wanted this one so much. You lose 4-0 at City and it’s not the best.
“We have to forget as much as we can and as soon as we can and just keep on fighting all the time. I always say when we do it and we are winning, when we don’t do it we are losing. You have to fight, work hard, be there for each other and that’s what we are missing sometimes.”
