The Scot publicly criticised his players for the first time after their 3-1 defeat at Bolton, which lifted Wanderers out of the bottom three.
A defence which has looked so solid for more of the season was torn apart with ease by Owen Coyle's team but Dalglish said the blame could not be levelled just at his back four.
The Reds boss has consistently said he does not expect to be busy in the transfer market this month and one poor performance will not spark a panic-buying spree.
But with Manchester City, in the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final, and Manchester United, in the fourth round of the FA Cup, coming to Anfield over the next six days he has stressed such an abject display will not be tolerated.
"There is no point in having a knee-jerk (reaction) is there?," said the Scot.
"That is the first time it has been like that so we will see what happens.
"But it is no comfort we have Man City on Wednesday or another game on Saturday.
"The players have to realise every game at this club is a big game, not just the ones that suit them.
"I never asked them what they were thinking but I would assume that people would have that idea (of a Carling Cup semi-final) in their mind - and if it was it is not correct.
"Everything which went wrong we can say we have to look at ourselves.
"The problem starts with their attitude and approach to the game.
"If you have pride in yourself and the club that reflects on the effort you put in and for me I don't know where it comes from but it had better go quickly.
"The key is now for us to not repeat what we have done."
Dalglish said he felt the players' attitude was poor before the match even kicked off and that was reflected in the concession of a fourth-minute goal to Mark Davies.
The Bolton midfielder was allowed far too much space to run forward to collect former Reds striker David Ngog's flick-on from Chris Eagles' pass and shoot past Jose Reina.
Nigel Reo-Coker added a second just before the half-hour when again Eagles unlocked a previously frugal defence with a chipped pass for his team-mate to stab home.
Craig Bellamy was Liverpool's only real threat throughout the entire match and having had one shot saved by Adam Bogdan he made no mistake second time of asking when Andy Carroll's header sent him racing through to clip past the Bolton goalkeeper.
But any hopes of a recovery were snuffed out when Gretar Steinsson fired home from a corner five minutes after the interval.
The closest Liverpool came to reducing the deficit came from Daniel Agger's long-range strike which clipped the top of the crossbar and the away section of the Reebok Stadium emptied long before the final whistle.
Bolton's victory was as welcome as it was unexpected.
Having won just once at home all season they became only the third team - after Barclays Premier League title-chasers Manchester City and Tottenham - to score three or more against the Reds this season.
Coyle felt his side got their rewards for improved performances over the last few weeks.
"The thing you get with us is a level of consistency," he said.
"We know and believe what we are doing and we know the reasons why we have been in the position we have been but we are starting to address that."
Ngog's performance as the lone frontman outshone that of opposite number Carroll and although he did not get on the scoresheet Coyle was pleased with the £4million August signing.
"I brought him to the club because of the belief I have in him, as I do in young players," added Coyle.
"David has pace, is strong and can score a goal.
"He didn't need to prove anything to his former club because Liverpool knew how good he was - that is why they asked for the fee they did."
