IT IS ALMOST exactly ten years to the day since Steven Gerrard scored that famous goal against Olympiakos but he couldn’t repeat the feat last night as Liverpool crashed out of the Champions League at home to Basel.
Liverpool were poor for most of the game and it wasn’t until Gerrard’s beautiful free kick late-on that the home side sparked into life.
However, Basel held on for a 1-1 draw and when asked after the game whether Liverpool deserved to go through, he was brutally honest.
“We haven’t gone out of the competition because of how we played tonight, we went out because of how we played in Basel, we weren’t good enough,” Gerrard said to ITV after the game.
“And in our last game we gave away a stupid late goal. You always qualify over the six games and unfortunately we haven’t been good enough.”
Liverpool lacked any real cutting edge up front, and after Rickie Lambert was withdrawn at half time they didn’t have much of a presence in the Basel box.
Unsurprisingly, Gerrard talked about the need for Liverpool to get their main strikers fit and healthy if they want to salvage their season.
“What’s crucial is that we get our main striker back who is capable of getting the goals that get us into the top four,” Gerrard said.
“We need to get Mario Balotelli back firing as well, if we can get goals in the team it gives us a better chance.
“Rickie Lambert has run himself into the ground over the last five games and unfortunately this game has come too much for him in such a short space of time.”
