Off-field dramas affecting Liverpool
- Gerrard
soccernet
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard admits continuing off-field
speculation about the club is making it difficult for the side to
concentrate fully on football.
Uncertainty over the ownership of the Anfield outfit and the
position of manager Rafael Benitez have made for recurring
headlines recently.
Form on the pitch has also been disappointing and the Reds needed a
late Peter Crouch equaliser last night to earn a 2-2 Premier League
draw with Aston Villa at Anfield.
'It is not just this week, it has been going on for some time and
it is certainly not helping the players,' Gerrard told Setanta
Sports.
'I have got to be careful what I say about the situation but it is
certainly not helping the team.
'We know what is going on, but as players you have got a job to do
on the pitch.
'You try to put what is going on off the pitch to the back of your
mind but sometimes it is impossible, when it is every day.'
The result left Liverpool outside the Champions League places but
Villa boss Martin O'Neill still believes they must be favourites to
claim the fourth spot.
Everton, Liverpool, Villa and Manchester City are separated by just
two points in positions four to seven in the table.
O'Neill said: 'Liverpool are the strongest of the four sides going
for fourth spot. We do not have a big enough squad and we would
need a lot of luck to contest fourth spot.
'Everton have achieved fourth spot before, and they are a much
bigger and strong squad now than when they achieved fourth a couple
of seasons ago.
'I believe that we are the least experienced of the sides in the
race for fourth.'
Villa hit back after Yossi Benayoun's 19th-minute goal to take the
lead at Anfield.
Liverpool paid for their failure to defend two set-pieces as Marlon
Harewood struck and then Fabio Aurelio turned into his own goal in
the space of three second-half minutes.
O'Neill hailed his side's recovery.
He said: 'In the first half we did not play the way we know we can.
Maybe it was the Anfield atmosphere, but I told them at the break
they needed to show self-belief.
'It took time to get there, but we started to turn the tide. Marlon
Harewood made a big impression when he came on and I am just
disappointed we did not see it through to the end and a
victory.
'I suppose 2-2 was a fair result in the end. But it was a great
effort from my team.'
