Remi Garde questions Aston Villa spirit in 6-0 loss to Liverpool

Aston Villa manager Remi Garde questioned the spirit of some of his players as his side went down 6-0 at home to Liverpool.

Having gone in at half-time 2-0 down, Villa then conceded four goals in the space of 13 minutes in the second period, and were met by jeers from the home crowd at full-time and during the match.

Bottom side Villa now sit eight points from safety with 12 games remaining, and the defeat marked the first time they had conceded six at home in the league since 1983.

Garde told Sky Sports: "I saw two very different teams. The gap between the level of the teams was very important today. It's a very, very disappointing afternoon.

"We should have reacted better than that; we should have behaved like a team fighting for survival. But today we didn't have the spirit for that.

"I don't know if the level of spirit among my players was the same for everybody today.

"It's very difficult to explain. Football is sometimes very special and today we under-performed so badly and I feel so very sorry for the fans because I know they are always behind us if we are fighting, and today we didn't really fight on many occasions.

"There are 12 games to go and we have to find the 11 or 18 players that still have the desire to win the games.

"In the previous weeks and games, it was not the case [that players did not show fight]. But I knew this was a fragile situation, and to go on fighting is sometimes not easy.

"But, as you can imagine, I did not ask something different today than what I have asked in the previous weeks."

Garde has just two league wins in his 15 games as Villa manager and admitted this was the worst defeat during his tenure.

Villa's ever-present Premier League status is under serious threat going into the final stages of the season, but Garde still has hopes of a survival bid, despite the manner of the defeat.

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He added: "It's only one game, and then of course Liverpool are a very, very good team with so many talented players. But hopefully we won't play such a good team every weekend until the end.

"I still believe we can win games and get enough to be safe. I think that we have to be proud, and when you concede six goals at home, it is like a humiliation.

"I don't like to be humiliated myself, and everybody has to react and we are going to try to do our best for the next game."