Liverpool FC suffered a heartbreaking loss at the hands of Arsenal which left their top 4 hopes badly dented. The Reds are now in the fifth place, eight points behind fourth placed Manchester United. A gap of eight points could be very difficult, if not impossible, to fill at the moment. There are other unsettling reports surrounding the Reds with some claims of Brendan Rodgers losing the dressing room after claiming that his senior players were not playing for him.
Brazilian Philippe Coutinho said that it was best not to dwell on the disappointment of the night where Liverpool were embarrassingly undone by Arsenal and lost 4-1, with their first three goals coming in the span of seven minutes.
a Arsenal played very well, as they always do, and we did not do the things we have to do to win, the things we have done in previous games, like pressing the ball well,a Coutinho said
a That was the difference between the two sides.
a It was a very difficult game but we have to pick our heads up and keep believing. We have to keep going (for fourth). We have more games to come and lots of things can still happen.a
The Brazilian continued saying winning the FA Cup would ensure the season didn’t end as a disappointment.
a Winning the cup would save our season,a Coutinho said.
a It is very important for us to have that as an objective. We have to pick ourselves up after what happened against Arsenal to get the results that we need.
a It would be a successful season to finish fifth and win the cup, but we want to be in the Champions League.
a That is our primary objective. We have seven games left and we have to see what happens.a
Simon Mignolet also echoed the same feelings and said, a We have to move on. We’ve got another massive game on Wednesday night. We need to make sure we get through in the FA Cup. The FA Cup tie is our only focus now.
a The FA Cup is very important for us. We have to make sure we are prepared.
a We know what’s at stake. We know it won’t be an easy game but we need to be ready for Blackburn.a
However, the Belgian refused to talk about top-4 hopes and whether Liverpool could miraculously finish with a Champions League berth next season. He said, a Don’t ask me this question now. It’s too soon. We need to go away and analyse the positive and negatives. We just need to recover well and see what’s still possible.”
Its going to be a mighty task for a young Liverpool side to do well even in the cup game where they will be going as a depleted unit, missing Martin Skrtel, Mamadou Sakho and Emre Can, all missing with suspension.