Jamie Carragher has insisted that Kenny Dalglish is not to blame for Liverpool‘s poor form in the Premier League this season.
The Reds have won the League Cup and are in the FA Cup semi-finals but are languishing below the European places in the league and are highly unlikely to reach the Champions League spots.
While the defender admits Liverpool have been poor in the league, he claims their cup runs make the season a success.
“People need to remember where we were when Kenny took over again as manager,” Carragher told The Daily Telegraph.
“The club were on their knees. We’d gone through a difficult period and found ourselves in a poor position in the league. Kenny took over and it wasn’t just that he gave everyone a lift in terms of his presence around the club, but most importantly with performances and results.
“Everyone knew this season was all about rebuilding the team and bringing a lot of new playing staff to make an improvement. Winning our first trophy in six years was a sign of that. It was a massive achievement for everyone at the club. We’re still in the FA Cup so it could get better.
“We all recognise we’ve come up short in the league compared to where we’d like to be – because we wanted to be closer to the top four – but considering there’s been a lot of change it was always going to be difficult given the established sides we were up against. We were just starting the process again so you can’t just expect it happen immediately.”
Carragher believes the manager’s experience of winning the league during his first spell at Anfield will be vital if the Reds are to ever win the Premier League as none of the squad currently know what it takes to maintain a title challenge.
“He’s the one here who knows what it means to win a league title and what we’ve got to do going forward,” he said.
“There isn’t anyone else here with experience of winning a league title. It’s ridiculous anyone would dismiss his experience and achievements in the game when he’s started getting Liverpool winning trophies again already.”
The defender also insisted that the whole squad is to blame for Liverpool’s poor form.
Recent signings such as Andy Carroll and Jordan Henderson have faced criticism for their performance levels this campaign but Carragher believes they will have an impact once they settle fully on Merseyside.
He explained: “As a group of players, we need to improve and it’s not fair just talking about the new ones. Maybe we need a couple new players next season to push us on, and we hope the players we bought this season will then go on to another level after a year’s experience playing for the club.
“It’s not easy learning what it means to play for Liverpool. There’s far more additional expectation and pressure here.”