Houllier puts brave face on Valencia defeat
Liverpool were humbled 2-0 by the La Liga title holders and twice recent European Cup finalists on Tuesday night. No English team has even scored in the Mesalla in this competition and the last English side to win there was 36 years ago Leeds, the victors in the old Fairs Cup.
Liverpool knew the challenge would be tough, but Houllier was not expecting such a disappointing display from his team. With next week's crunch at home to Basle now on the horizon, Houllier said: ''We know what the benchmark is now and we know what we have to aspire to in the future to be successful in Europe.''
Liverpool's game plan was in disarray as Valencia swept them aside, and even though the Anfield men did create a handful of chances, Houllier made it clear: ''We could and should have sneaked one. But still, on the day, we showed we were not at their level. But physically and tactically we should have competed more, we know that. The players were angry with themselves, which was a good sign. They were more than despondent.
''That gives us the platform to bounce back in the next game.''
''Arsenal lost all three of their group away games last season but got through to the next stage, we can still achieve that, but don't forget three players were discovering the Champions League and the rest of them have played only 10 to 15 games at that level.
''But this is the type of game that we have to learn from and discover what we must achieve to stay in the tournament. Our minds and energy are now focused on the next game, we must learn and we must win against West Brom on Saturday.''
Houllier was more than aware of what a blow to confidence this defeat could be: ''They were the favourites for our group, the top seeded team, and if you want to compete with such teams you have to be at your best and in some areas we were not at our best."
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