Rafael Benitez reckons Liverpool fans are not getting value for money as their team flounder in the Barclays Premier League title race.
The Liverpool boss, and senior star Jamie Carragher, have finally conceded this week that the league title is beyond an Anfield side who have not won a league game since Boxing Day.
Four points from the last 15 on offer - form that came to a head with the shattering 1-0 defeat at West Ham on Wednesday - has finished Liverpool's championship challenge.
It has left Benitez calling for pride from his players and a desire to improve on all fronts when they face Sunderland at Anfield.
Benitez will have Javier Mascherano back from suspension but is still without Alvaro Arbeloa - called into the Spain squad on Friday for the first time - Andriy Voronin and Daniel Agger, although the Danish defender is back in full training and near to a first-team return.
But Benitez concedes that the fans are being short-changed at the moment.
He said: "The confidence is low, but I do not like to criticise the players. If they work hard, that's OK. If you have to say anything to them it must be done in the dressing room.
"We know we need to improve and take our chances. We must be strong in defence and score more.
"The way to do this is for the staff, the players, everyone, to do our best every day and in every training session. Our supporters deserve more than they are seeing."
With the pressures increasing on Benitez and the club, he also accepts that the side's poor form must be addressed, and quickly, to avoid a disastrous season.
He added: "When you are not winning, especially a few league games on the trot, people talk about managers, the staff or individual players. So in this situation you must work together, work harder and improve.
"We have two cups we can still win, and in the Premier League we must concentrate on improving.
"We were thinking we were contenders and maybe we cannot be now, so we need to concentrate on each game and make sure we take three points, and then see where we are.
"The team has quality and now we need to show our supporters that the commitment is there and we want to progress. We will do it.
"We know we must beat Sunderland, it is clearly a must-win match for us."
He added: "We cannot talk about the title, only the next three points getting close to the top four.
"They are not the results we want and we are drawing games we should be able to win.
"But everything will change when we win two or three games. At the beginning of the season we won a lot of games, scored a lot of goals and everyone was happy.
"We have had some problems, but won against Besiktas, Porto and Marseille (in the Champions League group phase) and played some very good games and scored a lot of goals so we know what we are capable of."
The Liverpool boss, and senior star Jamie Carragher, have finally conceded this week that the league title is beyond an Anfield side who have not won a league game since Boxing Day.
Four points from the last 15 on offer - form that came to a head with the shattering 1-0 defeat at West Ham on Wednesday - has finished Liverpool's championship challenge.
It has left Benitez calling for pride from his players and a desire to improve on all fronts when they face Sunderland at Anfield.
Benitez will have Javier Mascherano back from suspension but is still without Alvaro Arbeloa - called into the Spain squad on Friday for the first time - Andriy Voronin and Daniel Agger, although the Danish defender is back in full training and near to a first-team return.
But Benitez concedes that the fans are being short-changed at the moment.
He said: "The confidence is low, but I do not like to criticise the players. If they work hard, that's OK. If you have to say anything to them it must be done in the dressing room.
"We know we need to improve and take our chances. We must be strong in defence and score more.
"The way to do this is for the staff, the players, everyone, to do our best every day and in every training session. Our supporters deserve more than they are seeing."
With the pressures increasing on Benitez and the club, he also accepts that the side's poor form must be addressed, and quickly, to avoid a disastrous season.
He added: "When you are not winning, especially a few league games on the trot, people talk about managers, the staff or individual players. So in this situation you must work together, work harder and improve.
"We have two cups we can still win, and in the Premier League we must concentrate on improving.
"We were thinking we were contenders and maybe we cannot be now, so we need to concentrate on each game and make sure we take three points, and then see where we are.
"The team has quality and now we need to show our supporters that the commitment is there and we want to progress. We will do it.
"We know we must beat Sunderland, it is clearly a must-win match for us."
He added: "We cannot talk about the title, only the next three points getting close to the top four.
"They are not the results we want and we are drawing games we should be able to win.
"But everything will change when we win two or three games. At the beginning of the season we won a lot of games, scored a lot of goals and everyone was happy.
"We have had some problems, but won against Besiktas, Porto and Marseille (in the Champions League group phase) and played some very good games and scored a lot of goals so we know what we are capable of."
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