Liverpool defender Daniel Agger admits standards have slipped at
the club but has stressed they cannot afford to fall any further.
Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Portsmouth on Saturday was the Reds'
seventh of the season and, combined with other results, saw them
slip to eighth in the Premier League table.
They are now closer to Pompey, still rooted to the bottom
despite a fourth win of the campaign, than they are to leaders
Chelsea and the pressure is increasing on manager Rafael Benitez.
However, Agger said the players have to take responsibility
for their below-par performances, which they had to put an end to
heading into the busy festive period.
"It goes without saying that we are extremely disappointed
and we know that it simply isn't good enough for this club," said
the Denmark defender.
"We have got to change this around. It didn't happen against
Portsmouth but we can't let it go on any further."
Confidence appears to be at an all-time low among the squad
and in recent matches the concession of a goal has immediately
provoked a negative reaction from many of the players.
That is partly down to a woeful run of just four wins in 17
matches.
"Why is this happening? It's a bit of everything I suppose
but we have got to try to get some confidence from somewhere soon,"
the 25-year-old Agger told the Liverpool Echo.
"You get that by winning games but we are not doing that at
the moment.
"It's a fight every game for this club. Every game we need to
focus and need to make sure we get three points.
"It's always a question of sticking together and we need to
do that now more than ever."
Benitez continues to put up a steadfast defence of his
methods and is confident the players can lift themselves out of
their current slump.
"Obviously we prefer to win. We have quality and if we play
well we can score goals," said the Liverpool manager.
He will have to change his preferred line up over the next
four matches, however, as defensive midfielder Javier Mascherano
will serve another suspension after being sent off at Portsmouth.
The Argentina captain would have missed the festive games
regardless as he injured the medial ligament in his left knee
tackling Tal Ben Haim in the challenge which led to his
sending-off.
"The player had a scan which confirmed the medical team's
initial diagnosis that he suffered a medial ligament sprain in his
left knee," a club spokesman told the club's website.
"He is expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks."
It means Benitez has to decide whether to drop Steven Gerrard
back from his attacking role behind striker Fernando Torres or
possibly play £20million summer signing Alberto Aquilani, who
was left out at Fratton Park after injuring a calf in training.
