Sterling reliance a worry - Souness
Liverpool and England are too reliant on Raheem Sterling, according to former Reds captain Graeme Souness.
The 19-year-old has been the best player at Anfield this season and he has become an increasingly effective player for the national team.
Against Real Madrid in the Champions League last week Liverpool's game plan appeared to consist of just getting the ball to the teenager at any opportunity and he even played the second half as a striker after misfiring Mario Balotelli was substituted.
But while Sterling's talent is not in question, Souness believes he is being asked to do too much when there are more experienced players around him who should be shouldering the burden.
"It is true (Liverpool) are placing a lot of responsibility on him but the same can be said of England and if they are relying on a 19-year-old kid then I think it does not reflect well on England's group," he told Press Association Sport.
"The same can be said for Liverpool: if you are relying on a 19-year-old to deliver in big games for you it is not how it should be."
Souness also criticised Liverpool's defensive organisation and believes they have to get back to basics before they can get through their current malaise of conceding sloppy goals.
"They are conceding bad goals now and if you are doing that it drains confidence and they must be at that point now," said the Scot, who was speaking on behalf of Capital One, the credit card company which sponsors the League Cup.
"It is not about what type of football you are trying to play; you can play the football you want but if you are conceding poor goals it drains confidence.
"Liverpool have to get back to stop giving away daft goals - especially at set-pieces - and then start again and rebuild confidence.
"From where they were last year to where they are now they are a team playing without great confidence.
"It is not just about back four and goalkeeper; if your midfield is working hard to stop quality balls being played into your back four the defence has a far better chance to deal with the crosses.
"But they are not putting the ball under pressure and the guy is able to cross it."
Captain Steven Gerrard, so effective in a deep-lying midfield role last season has struggled to impose himself on games in the current campaign but Souness believes it is too early to write him off.
"I think Steven Gerrard can play in that position for at least another season after this one with the proviso he has the right player around him; Henderson plus one other," he said.
"He still has the range of passes and he is still passing it better than anyone else at the club but he needs people either side of him as they are a little bit light in there."
Liverpool host Swansea in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday and Souness believes it is a competition they should take seriously despite the glamour of the Champions League.
"It's a great opportunity for Liverpool to win a trophy," he added when speaking on behalf of Capital One, credit card company and sponsor of the League Cup.
"You can never play in enough cup finals or win enough medals. Winning is a habit. When you've been to a final and won a cup you want it again and again and it gives you that inner belief you can do it again."
Reds assistant boss Colin Pascoe has confirmed changes will be made, but was giving little away on the chances of Balotelli being in the team.
There could be another start for Rickie Lambert, who played in the third-round victory over Middlesbrough, as well as further game time for teenagers Jordan Rossiter and Jordan Williams, both of whom also featured in that win.
Under-fire Balotelli has the perfect manager in Brendan Rodgers to turn around his Liverpool career, according to Swansea boss Garry Monk.
Balotelli has experienced a testing start to life on Merseyside following his B#16million summer transfer from AC Milan, scoring only once in 11 appearances where his energy levels have been constantly questioned. He also angered Rodgers, among others, when he swapped shirts with Real Madrid defender Pepe at half-time of Liverpool's Champions League tie with the Spanish giants last week.
It's marked another low point in Balotelli's chequered career but Monk, who was Rodgers' club captain during the Liverpool manager's two-year spell in charge of Swansea between 2010 and 2012, believes the controversial Italian striker could not be in better hands at Anfield.
"If anyone is going to get the best out of Balotelli then Brendan can," Monk said.
"He's a very good guy, a very good man-manager who is personable and who understands players and different characters.
"I'd expect him definitely to be the man to do that."
Having sold Uruguay striker Luis Suarez to Barcelona in the summer, Liverpool have struggled to reach the heights of last season when they came so close to winning a first English league title since 1990.
Last weekend's goalless home draw against Hull left Liverpool in seventh place in the Barclays Premier League, nine points behind leaders Chelsea, and Swansea actually leapfrogged them into sixth spot with a 2-0 home victory over Leicester.
But Monk expects Rodgers to build another title challenge at Liverpool before his time at Anfield is over.
"I think he'll get to go for the title again because he's a very clever man and he knows what he wants," Monk said.
"It's a transition period after losing such an important player who is so hard to replace.
"I think he's still finding a way to do that but they'll bounce back because they have very good players.
"They have a lot of games with the Champions League and everything else and Daniel Sturridge is a big miss as well because he's a big player.
"They've stuttered a little bit but they're still a good team, you go through periods of form like that in your career as teams but they're more than good enough to bounce back."
Swansea won 3-1 at Liverpool at the same stage of the Capital One Cup two seasons ago on their way to claiming the club's first major trophy at Wembley.
And Monk, who appeared as a second-half substitute that night at Anfield, believes his players can upset the odds again as both sides prepare to make changes ahead of their weekend league games.
"It will be difficult to give the players the best detail we can," Monk said.
"We have to get enough over to them so they understand what we want and go there with a plan and give a good go of it.
"There's no reason we can't win but it's going to be extremely tough.
"It's Anfield, we haven't got a big as squad as them or as a number of teams in this league."
Source: PA
