Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini had a woeful night at Anfield as his side lost 3-0 to Liverpool and captain and top scorer Carlos Tevez limped off with a hamstring injury which will almost certainly keep him out of the weekend's FA Cup semi-final.
The Italian accepted full responsibility for the defeat, which damaged their Champions League aspirations, admitting he had made a "mistake".
"Carlos has a hamstring injury, it will be very difficult for the semi-final," said Mancini of the Argentina striker's injury. "I don't think he will play. We will try to recover him but it is very difficult because we also have to think about the other six games for Champions League [qualification]."
The visitors were off the pace from the start and trailed 3-0 at half-time to two goals from Andy Carroll, his first for the club since his ?£35million January transfer from Newcastle, either side of one for Dirk Kuyt.
However, it was Mancini's slightly mysterious admission of unnamed errors in his preparation in the days prior which posed more questions than answers.
"I am disappointed with myself. I made the mistake for this game not with the players, the players played 100%, it was my fault" said the Italian, who refused to say what his mistake was.
"I made a mistake in the last two days, I know why. It is important I understand this for the next game.
"It was my mistake because we did not prepare very well. I made three changes, bringing in three fresh players, our focus was not good.
"Liverpool played fantastically in the first 20 minutes, we left a lot of space for them, and they were very aggressive at the start and we played very soft.
"After 20 minutes we started to play but it was late. For this it is my fault, it is important for me to understand this."
Source: PA
Source: PA