‘That was not good enough’ – Ancelotti slams Everton players after Liverpool FA Cup defeat

Carlo Ancelotti says Everton were simply “not good enough” in their 1-0 FA Cup defeat to a weakened Liverpool side, revealing he was going to speak to them all individually about their below-par performances.

Everton’s hopes of a first Anfield win since 1999 were seemingly given a boost before kick-off when Reds boss Jurgen Klopp chose to rest a host of first-team stars, including Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Virgil van Dijk.

In their place were squad players and academy graduates as Klopp looked to ease the demands on his senior players after a busy few weeks for the Merseysiders.

However, despite possessing more experience, Everton were outplayed by their youthful opponents, with one of those youngsters, 18-year-old Curtis Jones, curling home a spectacular second-half winner to send the Reds through.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Ancelotti revealed his squad were in for some harsh words in the coming days.

“I am going to speak to each player and tell them that was not good enough,” the Italian coach said. “Honestly in the second half we were not good enough.

“I have not spoken to them yet, but I am going to speak to them and tell them that (it is not good enough) yes, I will tell them about this.”

The Toffees began the game brightly and had the better chances in the opening 45 minutes, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Mason Holgate and Richarlison all having efforts saved by goalkeeper Adrian.

However, they faded badly in the second half and Ancelotti felt the failure to take those early opportunities proved decisive.

“In the second half we were not able to raise the right idea on the pitch, as we did in first half where we had opportunities to score,” added the former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Milan boss.

“The fact we didn’t score affected us in second half. It was not good enough that we lost our intensity in our play, and we didn’t create enough opportunities up front.

“It wasn’t psychological. That didn’t affect our idea of a good game.

“The defeat arrived because we didn’t maintain the high intensity in the second half, we lost confidence, we were not able to keep the same ideas we had in the first half.

“I said to the players at half time to keep going, but they lost confidence and intensity.”

The defeat at Anfield was Everton’s fifth match in just 16 days since Ancelotti’s appointment, though he only had a watching brief for the goalless draw with Arsenal on December 21.

In an attempt to look at the positives, the 60-year-old said the six-day gap between now and their next league game against Brighton will belatedly give him some proper time to work with his players on the training ground.

“Now we have all week to prepare for the next game,” he said. “Since I came in we played only games no training, so that will be important to improve quality and have more confidence.”