Under-pressure Liverpool manager Arne Slot has promised that next season will be better after their Champions League hopes were left hanging in the balance following a "damaging" 4-2 defeat at Aston Villa.
The Reds could have secured their place in next season's premier European competition, but it was Villa who triumphed with a convincing victory, providing a perfect send-off for Wednesday's Europa League final.
Ollie Watkins scored twice, with additional goals from Morgan Rogers and John McGinn, guaranteeing Unai Emery's team a top-five finish, while Liverpool's wait continues.
Virgil van Dijk netted twice for Liverpool, but this was another disjointed performance from the Reds, increasing the pressure on Slot, who has now overseen an alarming 12th defeat of the season.
The Dutchman acknowledged that supporters might not find reason for optimism, but he expects a better campaign.
"I can understand at this moment in time that they don't have a lot of confidence or a lot of feeling that things can be much better next season," Slot said. "But I think then they are underestimating what a window can do, what a new start can do, and I think we know quite well what to improve."
He added: "I think one of the things we have to improve is also very, very, very obvious, and I would have preferred not to talk about it here, but you're actually almost forcing me to. If you miss nine players that can start a game of football, and almost all of them are starters for us or have been for a large part of the season, then if you add that to what you can improve in a window and add that to players that are playing for the second season in the Premier League, that will automatically lead to much more."
"I don't think the differences are so big; only doing in a few situations the right thing can already have a massive upwards possibility," Slot concluded.
Liverpool remain favourites to secure a Champions League spot, and it could happen in the next few days if Brighton and Bournemouth drop points, while they can take matters into their own hands by beating Brentford on the final day.
"Damaging because we needed either a win or maybe two draws would have been enough as well, but now we know one thing for sure, that we need a win next week if we have to do it ourselves," Slot added. "As we all know, other teams, of course, need to pick a point as well for us to need a win, but it's really damaging that we were not able to get a result, let alone a win here."
In contrast, Villa have secured a second season in the Champions League in three years, and they can now head to Istanbul for Wednesday's European final against Freiburg, knowing their domestic ambitions have been achieved. This allows them to focus fully on winning their first continental trophy in 44 years.
It is another fine achievement for Villa, whose progress under Emery shows no signs of stopping.
The Spaniard said: "Absolutely brilliant. I was here the first day speaking about our objective three and a half years ago and how we are doing this achievement. Today is a summary for the season. Fantastic, and to do it against Liverpool. This team, this atmosphere. I am so happy, so, so proud of everybody. Now we can play the final, only thinking about a trophy, not thinking about the Champions League."
"To be in front of some teams after 37 matches is excellent, how we have beaten some teams to be in the Champions League. It's great finishing here the season at home with the main objective, and why, because after it we can now set and focus on the final only thinking for a trophy," Emery added.
