Houllier wants return of the old Gerrard

GERARD HOULLIER found it difficult to disguise his despair at Liverpool’s Champions League exit. And he had a special message for Steven Gerrard.

The midfielder was substituted at half-time during Liverpool's 3-3 draw in Switzerland on Wednesday night and his manager said:

''Steven is having a terrible time at the moment. I have stuck by him but he just wasn't good enough against Basle.''

Houllier added: ''He's been going through a difficult period, he's got problems with confidence and has been down after his England displays. After injuries he has not got back to his best.''

The Frenchman also believes the England midfielder has started to believe his own publicity and has suffered from injury at inter-national level.

Gerrard was injured in last month's international against Macedonia and missed successive games against Leeds in the Premiership and Spartak Moscow in the Champions League.

He failed to finish the next game against Tottenham and figured in the disappointing home defeat by Valencia before being only substitute against West Ham.

The player returned to league action at Middlesbrough on Saturday as Liverpool lost their unbeaten domestic record and did not last beyond half-time last night.

Houllier hinted that the players who were a defensive shambles in Basle will have to improve rapidly or be replaced.

The manager admitted he did not sleep after watching his side go 3-0 down before clawing their way back to a draw, a result which was not good enough to earn them a place in the last 16.

The Anfield outfit's consolation prize is a place in the UEFA Cup but the Liverpool manager will not stand for too much more of that in the future.

Houllier continued: ''We missed the good Steven Gerrard, the Steven Gerrard that we like and hopefully he will overcome this setback himself and come back even stronger.''

But, on a wider note, he added:

''I expect my players to improve this season again, score more goals, concede less and get back to winning ways.

''Steven is not going through a good period. He has shown a lot of qualities for us but since he was injured with the national team he has seemed not to be back to his best.

''He has had a couple of games to show his worth but it hasn't worked out his way.

''I'm impatient and I don't like to wait. My team have proved in the past they are learning fast and I hope this game, this elimination, will be the opportunity for them to grow even bigger and to get better in the future.

''But it takes time to get to the final stages of this competition. We did well last season to go to the quarter-finals and it took both United and Arsenal two attempts before they reached the second stage.

''There is a fine line between success and failure. We are just growing up and we have to keep working on that because over a couple of months, if not years, we will get there.

''This setback will provide us with an increased desire to get back into the competition next season.''

The retreat from Basle was as depressing as the return from being spanked by Valencia.

The beginning and the end of a Group B examination Liverpool failed.

Houllier said: ''I didn't sleep, I sat up and watched the game again and I'm obviously disappointed to be out of the competition."

As will the board. The financial blow has not yet been calculated but given that Olympique Lyon lost €12m of planned income by failing to qualify for the second phase of the Champions League, the figure is expected to be quite sizeable.