Source: Daily_Mail
We know we've flopped! Daniel Agger admits Liverpool have let standards slip
[LNB] Liverpool defender Daniel Agger admits standards have slipped at the club buthas stressed they cannot afford to fall any further. [LNB]Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Portsmouth on Saturday was the Reds' seventh of theseason and, combined with other results, saw them slip to eighth in the BarclaysPremier League table.[LNB]They are now closer to Pompey, still rooted to the bottom despite a fourth winof the campaign, than they are to leaders Chelsea and the pressure is increasingon manager Rafael Benitez.[LNB] Responsibility: Daniel Agger[LNB]However, Agger said the players have to take responsibility for their below-parperformances, which they had to put an end to heading into the busy festiveperiod.[LNB]'It goes without saying that we are extremely disappointed and we know that itsimply isn't good enough for this club,' said the Denmark defender. [LNB]'We have got to change this around. It didn't happen against Portsmouth but wecan't let it go on any further.' [LNB]Confidence appears to be at an all-time low among the squad and in recentmatches the concession of a goal has immediately provoked a negative reactionfrom many of the players.That is partly down to a woeful run of just four wins in 17 matches. [LNB]'Why is this happening? It's a bit of everything I suppose but we have got totry to get some confidence from somewhere soon,' the 25-year-old Agger told theLiverpool Echo. [LNB]Return: Under pressure Benitez could recall Alberto Aquilani[LNB]'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 needto make sure we get three points. [LNB]'It's always a question of sticking together and we need to do that now morethan ever.'[LNB]Benitez continues to put up a steadfast defence of his methods and is confidentthe players can lift themselves out of their current slump. [LNB]'Obviously we prefer to win. We have quality and if we play well we can scoregoals,' said the Liverpool manager. [LNB]He will have to change his preferred line up over the next four matches,however, as defensive midfielder Javier Mascherano will serve another suspensionafter being sent off at Portsmouth. [LNB]The Argentina captain would have missed the festive games regardless as heinjured the medial ligament in his left knee tackling Tal Ben Haim in thechallenge which led to his sending-off. [LNB]'The player had a scan which confirmed the medical team's initial diagnosisthat he suffered a medial ligament sprain in his left knee,' a club spokesmantold liverpoolfc.tv. [LNB]He is expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks.It means Benitez has to decide whether to drop Steven Gerrard back from hisattacking role behind striker Fernando Torres or possibly play £20million summersigning Alberto Aquilani, who was left out at Fratton Park after injuring a calfin training.[LNB]
