Liverpool were accused of giving up in their loss at Manchester City with Virgil van Dijk scathing about their efforts – but team-mate Florian Wirtz is not on the same page
19:06, 07 Apr 2026Updated 19:06, 07 Apr 2026
Florian Wirtz has rejected the idea that Liverpool gave up in their loss at Man City
Florian Wirtz has come out and said he “wouldn’t agree” with Virgil van Dijk’s assessment that Liverpool gave up in their FA Cup hammering at Manchester City.
The Reds were outclassed as their rivals stuck four past them without reply at the Etihad. It saw another trophy pass them by but more alarming was the manner of the performance, which saw the attitude of the players called out by some of their own.
Erling Haaland bagged a hat-trick with Antoine Semenyo also scoring and Liverpool skipper Van Dijk fronted up after the loss and claimed: “You shouldn’t give up and that’s maybe, at a certain point, what happened. We let our fans down, we let ourselves down, and the manager. The way we played in the second half, especially, must hurt for everyone. It definitely hurts me.”
Wirtz played in the loss and felt that the Dutchman’s assessment, which he hadn’t heard about until quizzed, was wide of the mark as he cited the team’s desire to go after their opponents.
The German said: “I didn’t know about that he said this. But I think I wouldn’t agree directly because we still tried to create chances to turn the game around.
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“Of course when the games gets longer and it’s like in the 80th minute and you’re 3-0 back mentally it’s difficult to go and go. We just tried to give our best in the game when it was 3-0 or 4-0 we had still a few chances then. Of course it’s not our standards that we lose 4-0 against City. We wanted to go through that round. Next year we should do better and be better on the pitch.”
Arne Slot echoed the thoughts of his captain as he conceded that the fight from his side was missing. The Liverpool boss is under pressure to deliver Champions League football as talk continues over whether he could be shown the door.
Virgil van Dijk pulled no punches in his assessment of the defeat to City(Image: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
He said: “I missed the fighting spirit definitely in the first 10 minutes after half-time and then afterwards it was just a game where both teams accepted it was 4-0.”
Slot claimed the title in his first year at the helm but, after a summer revamp that saw him spend over £400m and twice break the British transfer record – one of those on Wirtz himself they have struggled mightily. However, the former Bayer Leverkusen man insists the players are still behind their boss.
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He said: “Yes, of course. We are believing in the manager, the team should believe in the manager as they won the league last season, we have had a lot of good games this season. We wanted it to be better but it is what it is now. We still have things to play for and everything I can say to that is that we believe in the manager and try to get our best on the pitch tomorrow.”
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