Arne Slot criticised Liverpool's 'missing fighting spirit' after a humiliating 4-0 FA Cup defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. The result ended Liverpool's hopes in the competition and piled pressure on the head coach ahead of a crucial Champions League quarter-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.
Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick, including a penalty, a header and a hooked shot, while Antoine Semenyo added another as City reached an eighth consecutive FA Cup semi-final. Liverpool conceded four goals in a 21-minute spell after a promising start, with Mohamed Salah missing a penalty when the score was already 4-0.
Slot said: 'I missed the fighting spirit in the first 10 minutes after half-time. And then afterwards, it was just a game where both teams accepted it was 4-0. But in those 10-15 minutes, I missed the fighting spirit – the willingness to win your duel, to be there first, to make it difficult for either a pass or a cross or a finish. That is something we definitely have to do better on Wednesday.'
Midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai echoed his manager's sentiments: 'The fighting spirit wasn't there enough, the mentality wasn't there enough. None of us were there as much as we could. That's a good question – why. I don't know. It's hard to find words to be honest.'
This was Liverpool's 15th defeat of the campaign, the most since 2014-15. Slot acknowledged the need for improvement: 'There are only three or four days, so there are a few things you can do, and one of the things we need to do if we play against PSG or Man City, teams of this level, you need to defend better than we did in the 20 minutes when we conceded the four goals.'
