Liverpool's humiliating English League Cup elimination at the hands of Crystal Palace has prompted a furious reaction from their captain Steven Gerrard, with the England midfielder declaring his side's performance "unacceptable" and demanding an immediate improvement.
Gerrard apologised to the Liverpool supporters who travelled to south London for Tuesday's third-round tie, which was lost 2-1 and continued their miserable domestic form in the five months since they returned from Istanbul after winning the Champions League.
Rafael Benitez had been so infuriated with Saturday's surrender at Fulham that he had openly questioned his side's attitude, though the public rebuke clearly failed to rouse some of his players as they slipped to defeat against Championship opposition.
"That kind of performance is just not acceptable for Liverpool Football Club," said Gerrard, who had pulled his side even just before half-time but could not haul his team-mates up to his level.
"A lot of our fans have paid a lot of money to see that and what they saw just wasn't good enough. We've got to say sorry to them for that. People can go on about the first-half chances all they like, but that's not enough for us. We've got to perform for 90 minutes.
"There's got to be a big reaction to this now. We've all got to play for the shirt and start showing how much it means to be playing for this club. I don't see why anyone should have a go at the boss. He's been saying the right things to us and doing the right things. It's the players who have to accept responsibility in this situation. We have to take the blame."
Benitez retains the support of the board, the players and the supporters, yet the squad are unlikely to escape the wrath of the fans for much longer if Liverpool's slapdash displays persist.
While expectations have arguably been prematurely raised by the Champions League success in May, patience is fast running out. Only two matches have been won in nine competitive domestic games, with part of the problem clearly the lack of strength within Benitez's squad.
The Spaniard believes in picking the best team for specific matches, yet his options lack natural width and, at present, a striker other than the enigmatic Djibril Cisse with any real confidence in front of goal. The manager defended the ineffective displays from Fernando Morientes and Peter Crouch at Selhurst Park. "The strikers have quality and are working hard and, eventually, they'll score goals," he said. Yet Liverpool are converting only 4.8 per cent of the chances they glean in the Premiership, with only bottom-placed Everton boasting a worse goals-to-shots ratio.
The gap with Chelsea already stands at a demoralising 18 points and, for all that Liverpool boast having two games in hand on those around them, the feeling persists that this is a squad that will only compete once additions have been made in the transfer window.
The failure to sign either Luis Figo, who joined Internazionale, or Mark Gonzalez, denied a work permit, on either flank gives the impression that Benitez lacks the basic components to his master plan, built around pace and width.
