Fifth isn’t good enough says Crouch

Jan 23 2008 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

PETER CROUCH insists the Liverpool dressing room has been unaffected by the off-field uncertainty at Anfield – but admits their Premier League position is “not good enough”.

Rafael Benitez’s side have fallen out of the Champions League qualification places with a run of four successive league draws.

The latest came on Monday night, when Liverpool were held 2-2 at home by fellow top-four hopefuls Aston Villa.

The game was played out against a backdrop of protests from supporters unhappy with the club’s American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

But Crouch has joined team-mate Jamie Carragher in stating the unrest behind the scenes over the past few months cannot be used as an excuse for Liverpool’s indifferent form.

“That’s the thing, it’s not a new problem,” said the England international. “It’s been there for a while now. We’re still positive in the dressing room. It shouldn’t affect you when you get out on the pitch, because once you are out there all you are bothered about is playing. I don’t think anything off the pitch affects us.”

Of the fans’ protest on Monday, Crouch added: “The players knew what was going to happen. We do read the newspapers and we hear things, and we all knew what to expect.

“But it’s nothing to do with the players. If the fans do what they want to do, they can. We’ve just got to concentrate on the job in hand on the pitch.”

Liverpool needed an 88th-minute equaliser from substitute Crouch to scrape a point against Villa.

Benitez’s men have won only four of 11 home games this season, and have slipped to fifth place in the Premier League table behind neighbours Everton and a massive 14 points adrift of leaders

Manchester United. And Crouch said: “With the squad we have at Liverpool, the gap is certainly too far.

“We felt before the season that we would mount a serious challenge, but that doesn’t appear to be the case now.

“We’ve fallen a long way behind and it’s not good enough.

“There’s enough talent in the dressing room. We’ve got a good set of players here. Whether it’s good enough to win the title, I don’t know, but we certainly should be doing better than the position we are in right now.

“First and foremost we have to cement a Champions League spot for next year, that’s the minimum and that’s what we have got to strive for.”

Crouch’s goal was his sixth of the season but remarkably his first in the Premier League since his hat-trick against Arsenal last March.

The striker has started just four league games this season, and said: “I don’t think I’ve played nowhere near as much in the league this season, and it’s been really frustrating for me. But it’s up to the manager who plays.

“I haven’t had much of a run-out in the league, but I scored on Monday night and hopefully that can improve my chances of getting more games.”

Liverpool have now surrendered the lead five times at home in the Premier League this season and failed to win any of those games.

And Crouch said: “When we were 1-0 up it’s a shame we didn’t see the game out. It’s been a bit of a trait this season at home, not being able to kill teams off and finish the job.

“Credit to Villa, they hung in there and surprised us with the two goals, but we shouldn’t be conceding leads, especially at Anfield.

“I think the crowd thought that, once we’d gone 1-0 up, we’d go on to score two or three. With only a one-goal lead, the other team are always in it, and Villa managed to get back into it.

“In the end, we scraped a draw but that’s not good enough at home.”