John Aldridge column from the Liverpool Echo -
"What I saw at the Etihad on Saturday afternoon was something I’d never experienced watching or playing for Liverpool FC. Never have I ever witnessed that many fans walking out in protest at a performance or a result with so much time left to play in a game.
Manchester City were 4-0 up with around a third of the FA Cup tie left to play when many of those who had made the journey across the M62 for one of the shortest away-days of the season decided for an early dart.
Many of them were probably back in their locals on Merseyside by the time the final whistle went in Manchester and the players owe them an awful lot now going forward.
These are the same supporters who made the cross-country trek to Brighton for a 12.30pm kick-off only a fortnight earlier, many of them getting up at 4 or 5am to make the trip.
That will have cost fans upwards of £2-300 and given what has been served up to them, I can’t blame them for voting with their feet. These fans have to work hard to put food on the table for their families and then they are given these sorts of performances back, it is unacceptable.
Where is the fight in this team? We’ve seen Manchester City beat us three times now season and listening to them gloat will have been tough for those who opted to stay.
These players have to realise who they are playing for and start showing more than they are because right now, they are mentally weak and it’s horrific to see.
These lads need to learn that at Liverpool, you run until it hurts. Work hard and let the quality eventually take over. Too often that season it simply hasn’t been happening and I’m sick of saying it. It’s time a lot of them looked in the mirror.
Arne Slot’s players can’t handle adversity and I’ve been there myself when confidence is low, it is a tough mindset to change for the better. But these are all well-paid players who are getting away with it too much this season.
Slot line must be drawn somewhere
The debate around Arne Slot’s future will inevitably continue after Saturday’s dismal defeat at the Etihad.
A lot of the supporters have shown in recent weeks they are far from happy with the situation. The boos and the early exits after the 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur last month was compounded by the sight of plenty of match-goers walking out after about 60 minutes or so on Saturday afternoon.
It’s not for former players to be calling for the manager to get the sack and that is something I don’t want to do on these pages.
But look, Arne will know the score, this is football and if results and performances don’t improve then talk about his future will always be there.
Fifteen defeats this season is the most since the 2014/15 campaign under Brendan Rodgers and since winning the league 12 months ago, you have to say there have simply been far too many days where Liverpool have been second best.
It’s usually the manager who carries the can for that and the line has to be drawn somewhere in the end.
Fans aren’t having Szob story
Another thing I didn’t quite understand on Saturday was Dominik Szoboszlai’s full-time interaction with the Liverpool fans in the away end at the Etihad.
I am not sure exactly what Szoboszlai’s point was and maybe something was lost in translation. He is one of the few players who doesn’t deserve a lot of criticism this year, so I won’t do that here but it didn’t look good.
He needs to understand that fans have every right to vent their spleen when they have just been so comprehensively outplayed the way they were against City on the day.
And Hugo Ekitike swapping his shirt with France colleague Rayan Cherki while the game was going on was another strange one. That was unacceptable, I have to say.
Incidents like that point to a lack of characters in the squad, the likes of Steven Gerrard or Jamie Carragher wouldn’t have tolerated that. Attitudes need to change, this is part of the wider problem at Liverpool right now."
