Gerrard: Players should take blame
Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard believes it is the Anfield players who should take the blame for the shocking performance that saw the European champions dumped out of the Carling Cup, and not manager Rafael Benitez.
The full impact of Liverpool’s exit from the competition at the hands of C-ca-Cola Championship side Crystal Palace – following hot on the heels of Saturday’s depressing defeat at Fulham – was slowly sinking in as Gerrard expressed his feelings.
With Liverpool only managing two victories so far this season in nine domestic matches in all competitions – in sharp contrast to their Champions League form - Gerrard jumped to the defence of Benitez.
Gerrard told the Liverpool Echo: “I do not see why anyone should have a go at the boss. He’s been saying the right things to us and doing the right things.
“It is the players who have to accept responsibility in this situation, we have to take the blame.”
Gerrard now expects a completely different attitude for Saturday’s home game with West Ham, where Liverpool will come under close scrutiny again.
Gerrard apologised to the fans in the wake of the 2-1 defeat at Selhurst Park, saying: “That kind of performance is just not acceptable for Liverpool Football Club.”
Gerrard scored his 50th goal for the club to equalise for Liverpool in the first half, but he and his team-mates were unable to then take control of the match despite missing several of chances.
Gerrard said: “A lot of our fans paid a lot of money to see that, and what they saw just wasn’t good enough. We have to say sorry to them for that.
“People can go on about the first half chances all they like but that is not enough for us. We have got to perform for 90 minutes.
“There has got to be a big reaction to this now. We have all got to play for the shirt and start showing how much it means to be playing for this club.”
Benitez was left to defend his players in what was a painful TV interview after the match, in which he insisted his strikers would soon start scoring.
But the side he fields against West Ham will be much different to the one that lost at Palace, with Djibril Cisse’s claims for a regular role given a major boost by the performances of the likes of Fernando Morientes and Harry Kewell against Palace.
Cisse, along with defender Jamie Carragher, was left behind on Merseyside while their colleagues travelled to South London.
Both will certainly start against the Hammers, with Xabi Alonso, Mohamed Sissoko, Steve Finnan and Jose Reina all set to return.
Benitez said: “The strikers have quality and are working hard and eventually they will score goals. Things will change also for Peter Crouch when he starts scoring.
“He worked hard and played okay, but he does need to score. Harry Kewell and Fernando Morientes have both been out injured for a while and they need to keep playing games to improve their level.”
