Steven Gerrard set the record straight: "I held my hands up in the dressing room after the Aston Villa game and said I wasn't good enough. I'm man enough to do that and I needed to react myself to Monday's performance, and I feel I did that.
No-one expected us to lose two of the opening three games. The criticism has come because of the expectation. Because we finished second last year, everybody expects us to have a flying start and go straight to the top of the table. People were writing us off after three games of the season, which is absolute madness."