Kenny: We'll grow from this
Kenny Dalglish believes his team will learn a valuable lesson from their 2-1 FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea – and has backed them to go from strength to strength next season.
A strike from substitute Andy Carroll gave the Reds hope after goals from Ramires and Didier Drogba, but Dalglish admitted his side upped their game too late.
He cited nerves and inexperience as possible factors but claimed positives could be gleaned for the future.
"They were excellent for the last half hour but the game lasts for 90 minutes," reflected the boss. "If you're playing against the quality of Chelsea, you cannot give them a two-goal start and expect to give yourself an opportunity to get something from the game.
"I don't think the first hour was a true reflection of the quality we had out there. Whether it was a lack of experience in the situation – maybe they just had more experience than us.
"Maybe they were just a wee bit nervous – a lot of them are just youngsters, or relatively young and inexperienced at this level.
"Chelsea are thoroughbreds, they've been through the course before. Maybe that was it.
"The way they finished the last half hour should give them the belief and confidence that they are better than they think they are.
"It's a hard lesson. The same group of players will be better for the experience they had there, and the experience they've had from the previous part of the season."
Asked if he would now delve into the transfer market, Dalglish added: "The same group of players will move on. Whether other people come in won't be dictated by today's result."
Liverpool were denied an equaliser after the officials deemed an Andy Carroll header not to have crossed the line after Petr Cech palmed the ball onto the crossbar.
Dalglish said: "I haven't seen it but somebody said, 'Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't.' This time we never got it.
"And if the officials got it right, I hope they get the credit they deserve.
"Considering they're in the Champions League final, Chelsea know how to win games, but as good as they are, you still need a bit of good fortune to win games, and maybe they had a little bit of good fortune that denied us an equaliser.
"But credit to Chelsea – if you're the better team for an hour, you're going to be disappointed if you don't get a positive result."