Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy could not believe how easy Jurgen Klopp’s men had it during their FA Cup victory over Everton at the weekend.
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Curtis Jones’ spectacular strike gave Liverpool a place in the fourth round of the FA Cup despite making plenty of changes and a first half in which they were arguably lucky to remain level.
Murphy noted how Everton’s threat diminished in the second half, blasting the efforts of the Toffees as they could neither convert their chances in the first half nor muster any sort of strong response to going behind with 20 minutes to go at Anfield.
Speaking on TalkSPORT, Murphy slammed the weakness of Everton’s fightback after they fluffed the chance to record a first victory at Anfield since the turn of the century.
He said: “Some of those Everton players need to look in the mirror today. [A] lack of energy, lack of desire, step out, press – especially the reaction after going a goal down, risk it.
“You don’t necessarily just throw [the tactics] out the window because you’ve lost a goal, I get that. But you’re talking about the FA Cup in a Merseyside derby.
“Liverpool were comfortable on the ball, in 10, 20 yards of space, knocking it about like a testimonial after being 1-0 up, it was embarrassing.
“Whether they weren’t fit enough, some of them – especially in the middle of the park – didn’t have the legs to get about. They could not get after the Liverpool players.”
Everton only recorded one shot fewer than Liverpool did on Sunday, which suggests the game was as close as the scoreline makes out.
However, the Toffees were wasteful in front of goal, registering just three on target – which all came in the first half with Liverpool fortunate to have Adrian to rescue them at times.
An ex-Liverpool player bashing their city rivals may not be the most alarming thing the morning after a derby win, though the nature of Murphy’s opinion almost suggests he wanted the opposition to make it more of a contest.
Perhaps the Reds’ relentlessness is boring him as they extended their fine form as well as their record over Everton – who are sure to be licking their wounds after squandering some great opportunities to make a big statement on their rivals’ turf.
Liverpool fans, were you lucky to win on Sunday? Let us know your thoughts below!
