Brendan Rodgers has called for his Liverpool team to discover a winning mentality as they look to climb the table and find their form by pushing for places to secure European qualification.
This follows a mixed Christmas period for the Reds, whose 4-0 home win against Fulham was swiftly negated by a midweek defeat at Stoke, despite taking the lead within the opening minutes of the game.
The quick change in results has left Rodgers confused, as he told reporters: “To play for a club like this there are certain requirements you need.
“They are not just technical and tactical requirements. You can’t have a good match for Liverpool and then three days later have a poor game. This is Liverpool. This is every game of your life.
“You play well on Saturday and then you have to play well in the next game. Then three days later you have to be at the top of your game again. You have to do that for years because that’s why you are at a big club. The table doesn’t lie. We are in 10th position.
“We’ve shown against many of the top teams that we have the game to compete. Against some of the other teams we have shown wonderful demonstrations.
“But it has to be efficient and consistent. That’s the single biggest word. We have boys that want to come in and work every day, but it has to be consistent.”
Despite the lack of consistency, Rodgers has clarified that he will not be spending a lot of money in the new year, with the club still looking to consolidate financially following previous manager Kenny Dalglish’s ambitious spending.
“We certainly won’t be able to do everything in January that we want to do, but we hope to help the group,” Rodgers said. “There are lots of names that we are being linked with, but the truth is there are very few players we have enquired about.
“We need a bit more experience but we certainly won’t be spending a great deal of money in January.”
Among the players who have been linked in the media with a possible move to Liverpool next month are goalkeeper Jack Butland of Birmingham, Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge and Blackpool’s highly-rated midfielder Tom Ince.