Peter Crouch: Liverpool frustrated by slow start

Nov 8 2007 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

PETER CROUCH admits Liverpool’s record-breaking rout of Besiktas has heightened the frustration at their slow start to the Champions League group campaign.

Crouch scored twice as Rafael Benitez’s side posted the biggest-ever winning margin in the 15-year history of the competition by thumping the Turkish visitors 8-0 on Wednesday.

It was the first of three victories requir-ed by the Anfield outfit to seal progress to the knockout stages, with a home game against Porto and a trip to Marseille to follow that will decide their fate.

Liverpool had taken just one point from their opening three group fixtures, a sequence which reached its lowest ebb with a 2-1 defeat to Besiktas in Istanbul a fortnight ago.

The ease at which Benitez’s men romped to victory has left Crouch and his team-mates irked they have ensured their European aspirations remain precariously placed.

“There is a little bit of frustration that we’re in this position, because a couple of our performances have not been as good as they can be,” said the striker. “But we showed how good we really can be and we need to be more consistent, and do it more often. Yes, it’s a fantastic result but we need to play like that more often.”

Crouch believes Liverpool’s display on Wednesday demonstrated once again their ability to respond to pressure.

“I think this shows what we are all about,” he said. “We were under a bit of pressure before the game, no doubt about it. We’d givenourselves a lot to do because of a bad start in this group. We knew we needed to win, but win convincingly. Thank-fully we’ve done it.

“It seems to be the way that you only see the true Liverpool when we are up against it. We’ve had our backs to the wall and been under pressure but have managed to produce the goods before, and we’ve done it again.”

Meanwhile, Burnley manager Steve Cotterill has told Liverpool they have no chance of “nicking” 14-year-old striker John Cofie for £250,000. The highly-rated youngster was snapped up by the Coca-Cola Championship side after he was spotted at a youth tournament in Ger-many last summer, and Cotterill has dismissed speculation of Cofie making a move to Anfield.

He said: “Nothing has been agreed between us and Liverpool and if they think they can nick him for £250,000 – there’s no chance.”

Liverpool youngster James Smith is hoping for a permanent move to Stockport County after returning to Anfield after his loan spell came to an end.

The defender joined the Coca-Cola League Two outfit on an initial one-month deal before being allowed an extension of 93 days – the maximum for a emergency loan player – in which Smith made 10 league starts. Smith said: “It’s been brilliant, I’ve loved my time here, I’m just a bit gutted it’s been cut short. I’m looking for a permanent move and I’ve loved my time here so I don’t see why not if I can come to an agreement.”