Steven Gerrard has called for Liverpool's owners to act
immediately and give manager Rafael Benitez the funds needed to
become realistic Premier League contenders next season. The Reds
skipper believes the Anfield club suffer from a failure to invest
in the summer which allows Manchester United and Chelsea to make a
head start in the race for the title.
The 27-year-old insists the team have faith in Benitez, who had
to contend with off-field conflict last season, but wants co-owners
George Gillett and Tom Hicks to give the Spaniard the means to
ensure the Reds are in the title race from the start.
Gerrard told the News of the World: 'It hurts more and
more when we get to November or December every season and have to
accept we're out of the title race again.
'Every year seems to be following the same routine. The manager
asks for more support in the transfer market in January, while
we're all saying to ourselves this should have happened the
previous summer.
'The time to act is now, not in January when we're already too
far behind. The manager knows where we need to strengthen and the
players and fans have faith in Rafa - but he needs the backing to
act on his plans.
'When the American owners came to Liverpool they told the
players and fans they wanted the same as us. 'We all believed them
when they made that promise and it's been repeated again since, so
we're all desperate to see it happen.'
The England midfielder admits he is desperate to win a league
title, saying: 'I've won every major honour at Liverpool except
one. It hurts more and more not only to have never won the league,
but to have never really gone close. 'It would be bad enough if we
only narrowly missed out on the title, but we've never got to March
or April recently and thought we were in contention. 'That's what
we want more than anything at Anfield, but we'll only achieve that
when everyone is working together for the same goal.'
