Carragher aims to put Liverpool back on track

FOR Liverpool, and in particular their hardman defender Jamie Carragher, a week of soul searching is not over yet.

But the stand-in skipper believes things are moving in the right direction, after it was revealed he sought out boss Rafael Benitez to discuss his own doubts about personal and team form during a disjointed start to the campaign.

Carragher was captain for the 1-0 win in Bordeaux on Wednesday night in the absence of captain Steven Gerrard, and has been critical of his own — and Liverpool’s — shortcomings early in the season.

Benitez has not been slow to demand more from his experienced players, although a no-holds-barred team meeting last Sunday has been played down by all concerned.

But there was no doubting the significance of that talk as Liverpool aimed to put their season back on track.

The first step was a clean sheet, a first away win of the campaign, and a vital Champions League victory. The next is to go to Old Trafford on Sunday and, at the very least, avoid defeat to Manchester United.

Carragher rated the victory against Bordeaux, which keeps Liverpool in control of Group C, as a big step in the right direction.

But he knows anything short of that performance at Old Trafford will all but end Liverpool’s title aspirations, with the danger of Manchester United opening up an 11-point lead over their great rivals.

Carragher said: “The boss has talked to us about our performances this season, and I have been saying the same thing myself — a lot of the players, including myself, have not been performing as well as we have the last few seasons.

“That has made it difficult for the new players to ask them to settle in quickly. The players who have been here a while have maybe not helped them to settle in by producing performances up to our own standards.

“We have got to look to ourselves, to find our own best levels, and now we have achieved a good away win at last I hope that everyone will see us back playing at our best, collectively and individually.

“We have been average, at best, and we are not even halfway towards our true form. We are probably only a quarter of the way there.”

With Peter Crouch’s second-half header securing Champions League success in France, Carragher is steeling himself for another searching examination.

He said: “Teams like Manchester United and Chelsea are pulling away, so it is going to be very difficult. We got a good start in Europe and the Community Shield, but it did not continue like that.

“We knew that we had to get back to that form, it has not been what we would have wanted.

“United are flying at the moment and it is massive for us to go there and get something. People will start saying that if we lose we are out of it, that’s maybe too early for that.

“But all we want to do is (take) one step at a time, collectively. It’s a long way to go but the win in Bordeaux was a step in the right direction.”