Dominik Szoboszlai says Liverpool could find themselves playing in the UEFA Conference League next season if they don’t “wake up”.
Arne Slot’s side missed the opportunity to climb back into the Premier League’s top four as they were held to a 1-1 home draw by a struggling Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
The Hungary international opened the scoring before the break with a stunning free-kick but an error-strewn second-half performance was punished when Richarlison equalised late on and boos echoed around Anfield after the final whistle.
It means that Liverpool have taken just one point out of the last six on offer having previously lost to lowly Wolverhampton Wanderers.
“That is a huge disappointment,” Szoboszlai told Sky Sports after the game. “I don’t know what happened, I have nothing to say. In the last minute, again, I don’t know how many times this season already. I feel flat.
“We have to wake up because if we carry on like this, we should be happy with the Conference League. I don’t know why this is happening, I honestly don’t know.
“I think in the first half we played very well, we controlled the whole game and they hardly created chances apart from one or two headers. Second half we just didn’t so the same things. We will sit down together, and this is the most difficult time, but we have to stick together.
“I didn’t hear the boos, but we can understand them. We are not performing how we should. They should stand behind us because last season we became champions four games before the end and everybody was happy. Support us in a difficult time. There is still time to show how much we want it, we have to stick together and fight for the club.”
Liverpool conceded in the 90th minute (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Slot was left to reflect on a “damaging” stalemate as Liverpool failed to take advantage of weekend defeats for rivals Chelsea and Aston Villa, who are also chasing Champions League qualification.
“In large parts of the game, we were the better team. That is the moment where you have to score the second and we had moments to do so quite a lot,” he said.
“In the last 15 to 20 minutes, when it was more equal, it was waiting for one of the two teams to score. They created their chances in a similar way with a long ball and then picking up the second ball.
“But we also picked up a lot of those second balls and were able to counter attack them. From all the four versus three, and three versus two situations, with the quality players we have we should be able to create a better chance and score but we didn’t. Then in the last minute we conceded an equaliser and there was not much time left to make up for it.
“If course it is damaging. How many times has it been damaging for us? We don’t help ourselves at all. So many times this season we have created more xG (expected goals) and chances than we have scored. We also struggle to keep clean sheets. We haven’t had as many as you would want if you want to go higher up in the table. That is a bad combination to pick up as many points as we want.”
Slot must now attempt to lift the players for Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 second leg clash with Galatasaray when Liverpool will attempt to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg.
Asked about the boos at the final whistle, the Dutchman added: “I think it is understandable for fans to be frustrated because it has happened already so many times – the home team not picking up the points they expected and us conceding goals in the last minute.
“Now it is up to us to bring that frustration to Wednesday and come up with a big performance. It’s up to me and the players to take that frustration into Wednesday evening and show the fans the performance and the result they deserve because the fans have been so supportive throughout the season.”