|
As Liverpool prepare to face Arsenal at home on Sunday, Steven Gerrard insists that, although they are in an altogether different place than they were last year, they must beat the Gunners to kickstart their season. Liverpool were a point ahead of Manchester City at this point in December 2013, but have since lost Luis Suarez (to Barcelona) and Daniel Sturridge (to injury) to leave them in 11th place, 18 points behind leaders Chelsea. The Reds got back on track after losing 3-0 to Manchester United last weekend by reaching the last four of the Capital One Cup with a 3-1 win at Bournemouth on Wednesday night. But Gerrard maintains that Liverpool need a performance like that against Arsenal last season -- where they scored four times in the opening 20 minutes and eventually won 5-1 -- to boost confidence after their "SAS" blow. "Everyone knows if we perform the way we have done of late against Arsenal we'll get beaten," Gerrard said in quotes reported by the Daily Mail. "When you have a strike-force of Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez, they are capable of killing teams in 20 minutes. It's different this year and everyone knows that. "I think they were 60-70 percent of our goals those two. You take them out of any team in the world and it's going to be tough and it has been. But I think this is where you find out what kind of players you've got in the dressing room. It's time to roll your sleeves up and fight for the club and try to put it right as soon as possible and that's what we're trying to do. "We made mistakes against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday and we got punished by world-class players. The first half against Bournemouth was probably as close as we've come to last season's standards. "It's been tough to perform of late because we haven't played well as a team, but if we keep giving everything we've got then I'm sure the good days are not too far away. If we can get a big result against Arsenal and build on this, then I think we can turn it around." With seven league defeats to date and an early exit in the group stage of the Champions League, pressure is mounting on manager Brendan Rodgers. Something that he just has to accept, according to Gerrard. "It comes with the territory," he said. "There was a stage when a couple of my performances were under par and I got a bit of stick. It's normal. I've got to accept it being captain of the club and Brendan's got to accept it being the manager of Liverpool. "If results don't go well, questions are going to be asked, criticism is going to fly, you take it on the chin and try to improve things. That's the only way. I know when I don't play well. I think every individual does, but collectively it has been tough. "For me I've experienced it a few times during my career at Liverpool when it gets tough under certain managers and from the outside people are trying to kill you. It's normal. We're at a big club, we've got to take that responsibility. We can't have players hiding, we need men out there." Liverpool are currently seven points behind West Ham in fourth place and, although he admits it will be hard, the 34-year-old insisted that his side can qualify for Europe again this season. "It's a tough question and it's going to be tough to do it. We knew it was going to be tough the moment we lost Luis and the injuries we've had to Daniel of late," Gerrard added. "Everyone in the country knows the job to get in the top four becomes that awful lot harder. But we'll keep fighting until the end and if people are going to write us off, we can't control it. "I tell players individually and I tell them in the dressing room. But if you're sitting in that dressing room and you don't know that the performance levels haven't been good enough of late, you're at the wrong place. "All I can control is what goes on in the dressing room and try to help other players to perform well. But certainly, on the performance against Bournemouth, there's still a chance."
|
