Ian Doyle with the main talking point from Liverpool's FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester City on Saturday afternoon
Arne Slot, head coach of Liverpool, acknowledges Virgil van Dijk (Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
Arne Slot, head coach of Liverpool, acknowledges Virgil van Dijk (Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
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For a team that has grown accustomed to being put on the back foot this season, it remains curious there can be few Premier League teams so chronically unable to cope with setbacks as this Liverpool team.
And this dismal FA Cup surrender at Manchester City was the latest example of why when the going gets touch, this Reds vintage too often appear to get going – as far away as possible.
That might seem a little flippant or even harsh had this not been seen all before from Arne Slot’s side this campaign, with this very fixture a glaring case in point.
Back in November, Liverpool more than held their own in the Premier League meeting at the Etihad before conceding first, leaking another avoidable strike on the stroke of half-time and then capitulating completely in the second half.
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The only difference this time is that Erling Haaland, having had a spot-kick saved early on by Giorgi Mamardashvili in the top-flight clash, this time converted six minutes before the break on his way to scoring a hat-trick.
Liverpool must therefore stand accused of having learned nothing in the last five months. Absolutely nothing.
And that perhaps is what makes this sorry reverse – the heaviest of the Slot era – so tedious. Each time they leak an opener, the belief visibly drains from them. And, most worryingly, their opponents now know all about it.
There were just 20 playing minutes between the first and fourth City goals. Mentality monsters no more.
Look, any team can suffer a heavy defeat at City, even if they are a pale imitation of the teams that did battle with Liverpool during the peak Jurgen Klopp era. And no striker is as ruthless as Haaland on this form.
But the Reds had shown enough in the opening half-hour to have had the belief they could get back into the game rather than waiting until they were 4-0 down before realising they were capable of creating chances. Even then, they couldn’t take them. Rinse and repeat. The same old story. Zzz.
Come the end of the game, that there were so few of the 7,600-strong away contingent remaining underlined the travelling Kop had long seen enough. Few will be looking forward to the midweek Champions League assignment at Paris Saint-Germain.
Slot was serenaded by chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” from the jubilant City fans midway through the second half.
The Dutchman, though, is safe for this season at least. But if he wants his hand to be strengthened going into a decisive summer, the Reds boss is going to have to inject some mental resolve into his players before it is too late for everyone involved.
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