Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers admits his side were beaten by the better team as they were denied a place in the FA Cup final by a resurgent Aston Villa.
Villa came from behind to win 2-1 at Wembley as strikes from Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph cancelled out Philippe Coutinho’s opener.
Liverpool entered the contest as strong favourites, leading their opponents by 25 points in the Premier League, but Villa deserved their victory after a dynamic and dominant display.
“We’re obviously bitterly disappointed but more with the performance,” Rodgers said.
“You can always lose a game but you need to play well and give yourself an opportunity.
“We had some chances but I thought they were better than us today to be honest.”
Rodgers continued: “Sometimes you can want to win too much. The focus comes away from what allows you to win.
“The team in the last couple of years have shown great energy, attitude and commitment – I thought our energy was low today.
“Villa had a good start to the game and we were too passive.
“We changed the system, got some joy and got in front but we didn’t keep the lead long enough.
“In the second half we hoped to play better but we just didn’t create enough today.”
The defeat means there will be no fairytale ending to Steven Gerrard’s Liverpool career.
The FA Cup final, which comes on Gerrard’s 35th birthday, would have been the midfielder’s last game in a Liverpool shirt before he leaves for America and LA Galaxy in the summer.
“Is it a shame? Absolutely,” Rodgers said.
“He did everything he possibly could to help the team. I thought he was excellent today. Collectively we didn’t perform well enough.”
Liverpool have struggled to produce their best form in big matches this season, losing important league games to Arsenal and Manchester United in recent weeks, as well as failing to deliver in the Champions League earlier in the campaign.
“We need to have the courage now to play better in the big games because we didn’t play well enough today,” Rodgers said.
“Technically we weren’t quite on it. We looked like the occasion got to us a little bit.”
Rodgers added: “The players have that courage, you’ve just got to be consistent with it.
“That ability to build a game from behind and deal with the pressure, it’s important.”
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Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Teams
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
Volunteers offer workers a lifeline
Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.
When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.
Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.
Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.
“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.
Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.
“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
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