Gylfi Sigurdsson has offered an apology to Everton’s suffering fans, and admitted the players only have themselves to blame for a woeful derby defeat.
The Blues were booed from the pitch after a wretched FA Cup display at Liverpool , and only one player - Djbril Sidibe - went to acknowledge the away end at the final whistle.
The Iceland international, whose own display drew massive criticism from the visiting support, revealed that manager Carlo Ancelotti was angry in the dressing room afterwards…and admitted it was for good reason.
Asked if the new Italian boss was angry, he replied: “Of course. No-one is happy when you lose and are out of the cup. It's part of the job I think.
“Everyone associated with the club – fans, staff, players – are disappointed with the result. I think we have only got ourselves to blame not to have taken our chances in the first half. It's very disappointing.
“We've just got to make sure we continue the form we had in the Premier League the last couple of weeks and try to finish off the season strongly.”
Everton were widely condemned for lacking character and spirit after their shocking second half performance at Anfield, with TV pundit Alan Shearer brutally suggesting “It was embarrassing from them, they looked terrified in the second half.”
Sigurdsson was asked if he had a message for the fans, and how the players could make amends for the performance, and he replied bluntly: “Winning games. As simple as that.”
The midfielder also insisted there was no snub intended to the Blues fans at the end of the game. When asked why everyone bar Sidibe went straight down the tunnel at the end, he explained:
“I think everyone is totally disappointed. I think the players are all different people in how they deal with the loss. It's one of those things.
“Yeah, of course usually more players go to the fans. It's not the kind of thing for the team not to do and I am sure in the future there will be more players going towards them.”
The defeat leaves new boss Ancelotti with some serious decisions at the club with the January window open, and there are players in his squad who will find their futures in question.
Sigurdsson knows that, and he said on that issue: “It's not up to me to decide that.
“I think every manager we have had has been very determined to do his best and very serious about his job. The manager we have now is no different.
“We could have been three up, two up in the first half, and it would have been a completely different story. If we can't take our chances it's likely to happen.
“It's changed since Duncan came in and the first couple of games under this manager we picked up a couple of results so we need to get back to that now.”
