Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has told his squad they cannot always expect captain Steven Gerrard to get them out of trouble and must start proving their worth to the club. The England midfielder has been one of the better players this season, even though he has not reached his usual high standards, but against Napoli last night he produced a 45-minute masterclass which underlined his undeniable quality.
It secured a 3-1 Europa League victory and a third win in succession for the first time in a campaign which has been a struggle from the start.
"I want every player to step up to the plate and do not want us to be totally dependent on Steven Gerrard or Fernando Torres," he said.
"I want us to be dependent on the players who have been given the Liverpool shirt and given contracts at this big club.
"I've enjoyed one or two performances recently because I can identify more with the shape of the team and the work-rate and the effort and energy we are putting into games.
"If we sharpen up on the technical aspects of our game and we don't maybe miss quite so many clear-cut goal chances and we start to cross the ball a little bit better when we get into good positions I'll be happier still.
"But with the players and quality I have at the club I know that will come.
"These things are affected by confidence and we had such a bad start to the season it is going to take a while to pull ourselves out of the mire but at least we are trying hard to get out of it."
