Liverpool FC’s players must learn from our mistakes admits Dirk Kuyt

DIRK KUYT today admitted Liverpool’s players will accept responsibility for the crushing on-field disappointments the club has suffered this season.

The Reds brought the curtain down on a campaign to forget yesterday with a 0-0 draw against already-relegated Hull City in a game that once again highlighted the squad’s deficiencies.

That draw was not enough for Liverpool to pilfer sixth place from Aston Villa, who were beaten 1-0 by Blackburn Rovers, and it means the new season will start with a Europa League qualifier in late July.

It was, perhaps, the final ignominy of the turbulent last nine months, a period in which the club have made headlines mainly for issues such as ownership, finance and internal politics.

There is no doubt all those topics have had an impact on results but Kuyt insisted they should have become an irrelevance once the players crossed the white line.

“It has been a hard season and we did everything to change things,” said Kuyt.

“Up until 10 days ago, we were fighting for a trophy but it didn’t happen. You can say we have to forget what has happened but, really, we have to learn from the mistakes we made. We’ve got to push next season and be bouncing from the start.

“In football, you can never be sure what is happening and at this time, we know the club looks very bad. We are looking for new owners and you don’t know which players are going to stay or go.

“But Liverpool is a club with a great history and great supporters and we have to stay close together and fight really hard.

“Every player is interested in what is going on but, if I am honest, I can’t blame that side of things for some of our performances.
“We tried to stay focused with things on the pitch – that’s what I did, as did everyone else. We just couldn’t make good things happen for the club.”

Boss Rafa Benitez insisted after the game that, despite constant speculation about his position and interest from Juventus, he wanted to continue as manager.

Kuyt, clearly, hopes that will continue to be the case but also says it is just as vital that Liverpool still have Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard on the books come August.

“The manager has four years left on his contract, so I don’t expect him to leave unless something else happens,” said the Dutch international.

“For me, the most important thing is keeping the main players.

“Hopefully then we can buy a few more key players and start winning trophies.”

With better fortune, they would have beaten Hull yesterday but Kuyt had a header clear off the line, while Gerrard and Alberto Aquilani both rattled the woodwork.

“We were all hoping to finish the season with a good result so we had some kind of good feeling to finish on but unfortunately that did not happen,” said a frustrated Kuyt.

“Stevie went close and we had a couple of other chances.

“We pushed hard but we didn’t get the result we wanted and that is disappointing.”