Source: Liverpool_Echo
Liverpool's players should be embarrassed, says Reds legend Alan Hansen
ANFIELD legend Alan Hansen believes Liverpool's players need to start taking responsibility for their nightmare start to the season. [LNB]Sunday's 2-1 defeat at home to Blackpool left the Reds in the Premier League's bottom three and heaped the pressure on manager Roy Hodgson. [LNB]'Roy Hodgson knows well enough that the buck will always stop with the manager, but the truth of Liverpool's defeat against Blackpool is that the 11 players who started the game should be embarrassed,' Hansen said. [LNB]'They were wearing red shirts at Anfield and produced a totally unacceptable performance in a defeat that left Liverpool in the relegation zone. It was an embarrassment. [LNB] 'Forget about the history and tradition of the club. Pride also comes into it, but if the pride isn't there among the players, then there is not a lot of hope for the club. [LNB]'Results are the manager's responsibility and Roy knows that and that is why he is now being subjected to criticism from the supporters. The owners have also left the club in a mess, so that is another big problem. [LNB]'But it is up to the players to show anybody and everybody that they have the passion to turn this around and that must start when they play Everton in their next game following the international break. [LNB]'Let's not forget, Liverpool have a group of players who played in the latter stages of the World Cup this summer. Some even played in the final. So when they are facing Blackpool at home, needing to win to escape the bottom three, you would expect them to come out and roll Ian Holloway's team over and score five or six goals. [LNB]'That is not because Blackpool have just been promoted and were not fancied to win. It is simply because Liverpool were at home, they needed a victory and they should have taken Blackpool apart. [LNB]'It didn't happen. Even at 2-1 down, you expected them to surge forward and get something from the game, but Blackpool continued to be the better side.' [LNB]Hodgson is under fire after a dismal start to his reign but Hansen insists his job is safe. However, the former Reds defender has urged the Anfield boss to adopt more positive tactics. [LNB]'It is little wonder that the fans' patience finally snapped following the game,' he added. [LNB]'After three to four years of unbelievable support, and last year in particular when they watched some absolute drivel away from home, it reached breaking point with this defeat. [LNB]'They have seen enough sub-standard football, enough rubbish. At some point, it becomes too much and that is why the supporters were so angry after Sunday's game.
