Kenny Dalglish Criticizes LFC Players’ Below-Par Performance in Swansea City Draw

Kenny Dalglish delivered a damning assessment of his team's performance following its scoreless home draw with Swansea City. His verdict was that Liverpool players performed poorly on Saturday, according to LiverpoolFC.tv.

"Our performance was disappointing," the Liverpool manager said. "Swansea played the way we expected them to play but we didn't play the way we expected to play.

"Anything we're good at, we didn't do much of today. We're usually good at passing and movement but there wasn't much of that there. When we got it back we gave it away quickly. 

"We've got to understand, realize and accept that that level of performance isn't acceptable."

English Premier League newcomers Swansea consigned the Reds to consecutive home draws Saturday. The Swans outplayed Liverpool for large chunks of the game, impressing neutrals with their accurate passing and ability to maintain possession. 

Liverpool didn't do a terrible job on the day. It's that the performance was below the level required to defeat the tenth-placed Swans. Dalglish knew of the strength of the opposition before the game. The rest of the free world knew after 90 minutes.

Liverpool kept its third clean-sheet (shutout) of the season. Going forward, the Reds' passing was of a decent standard, but they found it hard to break through the compact Swansea defense when they reached the final third. They still created a good number of chances and should have scored in the seventh minute. Andy Carroll ran onto a Stewart Downing delivery, but his shot hit the crossbar from close range.

Dalglish wanted more passing and movement from his team, but Swansea sat deep in defense, conceding much of the field to its deliberative hosts. A more effective strategy may have been for Liverpool to drop back into its own half and draw Swansea forward. They would look to punish the visitors' mistakes on the counter. This blasphemous strategy would not go over well in front of the Anfield crowd, but may have led to more clear-cut scoring chances. 

What do you think of the Liverpool manager's assessment of his team's performance? Let us know in the comments section below.