Dalglish erred in selection, Mcmanaman says

Former Liverpool winger Steve McManaman has criticised Kenny Dalglish’s selection policy after their poor loss to Fulham on Tuesday.

The Merseyside outfit lost 1-0 at Anfield – the 14th time that they have failed to win at home this season – and McManaman feels that a stronger team would have created better momentum going into Saturday’s FA Cup final.

Dalglish rested the likes of Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez ahead of the clash with Chelsea but the former star suggested that Liverpool do not have the depth to make such changes.

“Why not win (on Tuesday) and on Saturday?” McManaman said on ESPN after the match.

“It’s only rotation if you have the quality.

“You have to do yourself justice in front of the fans, who pay very good money while the economy (continues to decline). You have to give them something and they (the players) have given them nothing.

“If you are going to go down, go down with the fans thinking ‘at least they had a go’. But there was none of that. Fulham were deserved winners.”

Chelsea face their own midweek fixture against Newcastle on Wednesday – with their top-four hopes still in the balance – and McManaman thinks that Liverpool could have afforded to play a stronger team.

He continued: “I am slightly more critical of Liverpool because of what the club means to me.

“The fact that they lost to West Brom last time here (at Anfield), I thought they needed to give the fans something.

“Remember, Chelsea are playing, so why haven’t Liverpool got a strong side out? This was a far easier game than Chelsea’s.”