Lambert Accepts Liverpool Criticism Ahead of Crunch Champions League Clash

Following Sunday’s shock reversal at the hands of Premier League strugglers Crystal Palace, Liverpool have come in for criticism from all angles with former Reds defender Jamie Carragher delivering one of the most scathing verdicts on their performance.

Southampton transplant Rickie Lambert may have scored his first competitive goal for the club he left as a boy in the opening exchanges of the match, but the 32-year old had admitted that neither himself, nor his teammates were up to standard. “We lost the individual battles and it wasn’t good enough. There wasn’t anyone in a Liverpool shirt who was good enough and it was wholly down to the players on the pitch” he said ahead of today’s meeting with PFC Ludogrets in the Champions League. “I do believe it is a lack of confidence at the minute but that will come back. It is not going ideally but it is up to the players on the pitch to ‘dog’ the performances out.”

Liverpool are staring down an early exit from European action after losing three of their four fixtures since returning to the competition for the first time since 2009. Successfully navigating the Group Stages of the Champions League would have been seen as a minimum requirement at the beginning of the season, but after the performance they put in on Sunday, that remains a massive doubt.

“Whatever the result in any game we have to perform better than we did at the weekend. It is totally down to the players. They are desperate to get the game under way and try to rectify our performance at the weekend” continued the striker, who is expected to retain his starting role in the absence of Mario Balotelli. “Win or lose we have to put in a performance of the standard of a Liverpool team.”