Sunday, 22nd January, 2012

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has blasted his players for not being ready for their match against Bolton Wanderers and instead having one eye on the second leg of the League Cup semi-final against Manchester City and the upcoming FA Cup clash against Manchester United.

The Reds went down 3-1 at the Reebok Stadium as Mark Davies, Nigel Reo-Coker and Gretnar Steinsson scored for the hosts. And a solitary strike from Craig Bellamy for Liverpool was not enough.

The performance was poor, a fact Dalglish immediately appreciated, and it left the Merseyside giants looking off the pace in the battle for a top four spot and a return to the Champions League.


Dalglish was quick to slam the way his players approached the game, feeling they were concentrating on challenges to come and not what lies ahead.

"The result is disappointing, but the most disappointing thing for me was that I don’t think we were ready to play the game", said the Liverpool boss.

"I don’t think the approach was correct and I don’t think the way we went about our work was correct.

"The foundations of the football club have always been built upon respect for other people and the philosophy that the next game is the most important one – not the one that is two or three down the line.

"If they needed a lesson to be taught to them then today was it. If they think they can just turn up and get a result, not be as competitive and not match the opposition for effort and commitment then they’ve got a lesson today.

"If they’ve learned it then fine. Without trying to take anything away from Owen [Coyle] and the way Bolton played, we have to look at ourselves and see what we can do to try and prevent it from happening in the future. That’s what we’ll do."

Do you want to beat the bookie? Check out OLBG, the sports betting community, and improve YOUR betting knowledge.

   Latest Features:

Follow Inside Futbol on Twitter