Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has hit out at his Liverpool side for being “soft” during their 1-0 Champions League defeat to FC Basel.
Also See: Daniel Sturridge Will Miss England’s Euro 2016 Qualifying Matches
Liverpool failed to defend a corner in the Group B match, with Basel’s Marco Streller netting the only goal in a poor display by the Premier League team.
“I thought we were too soft all over the pitch”, Gerrard told Sky Sports. “I thought they wanted it more, which is very disappointing.
“Conceding again from a set-piece isn’t good enough, so we need to get it right. You’re not going to win a football match if you keep conceding from set-pieces.”
Liverpool now find themselves in a desperate position as they look to qualify for the Champions League’s knockout stages, with their next opponents being the La Liga giants Real Madrid. Madrid sit atop the Group B table, and given their stellar team this year it’s looking unlikely that they will be toppled by the Merseyside squad.
“We came for the win, I expected us to win, so it was very disappointing”, Gerrard said of the loss against Basel. “We will discuss it, we will analyse it like we always do.”
Liverpool now need to push for good results in their next two matches against Real Madrid if they are to be in with a chance of reaching the knockout round, with Brendan Rodgers focussing upon Mario Balotelli’s inability to break free of the Basel defense in his post-match interview.
“He worked hard, (but) needs to do more”, Rodgers said. “He will be judged on what he creates and what he scores and he didn’t score. The boy is trying, he is working hard.”
Balotelli has failed to score in four successive games for the Reds, a far cry from the attacking consistency Liverpool enjoyed when Luis Suarez took on the club’s scoring duties.
Photo: Getty Images
