Former Liverpool defender Phil Babb has explained that the Reds lacked character, following their 3-1 loss to Swansea City in a Premier League fixture on Sunday.
The Merseyside giants, who headed into the game at the Liberty Stadium on the back of a 1-0 loss to Villarreal in the Europa League semi-final first leg, will look to overturn the deficit in the return fixture at Anfied on Saturday.
As a result, Jurgen Klopp rested several first team regulars and named a youthful team against Swansea, who raced to a 2-0 lead by the 33rd minute.
Although substitute Christian Benteke managed to reduce the arrears in the 65th minute, the Swans struck just two minutes later to regain their two-goal lead.
And Babb, who insisted that playing youngsters should not be an excuse for the overall poor performance at Swansea, thinks Liverpool did well to keep the scoreline down to just 3-1.
relatedNewsStory
“It was poor, let’s not beat around the bush”, he told LFC TV, when asked about Liverpool’s performance.
“It was a very poor first half, we showed glimpses of revival in the second half, but it was just not good enough all around.
“We could argue that the changes and the youngsters coming in didn’t perform well – it’s an easy excuse.
“When you put the red shirt on for Liverpool you got to perform and give your 100 per cent.
“For me, I just didn’t see enough character, enough desire in that performance and I think the only positive is that we kept the scoreline down to 3-1.
“It could have been a lot worse.”
Liverpool, who are eighth with 55 points from 35 games, now need to win the Europa League to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
