Liverpool winger Stewart Downing has stated that the club’s new players are not solely responsible for the outfit’s poor league position, and that the side win and loss together as a team.
The likes of Downing, Andy Carroll and Jordan Henderson have been criticised for not delivering after big-money transfers to Anfield last summer, and the Merseysiders are currently in the disappointing position of eight in the Premier League.
However, ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup final against Chelsea, Downing feels the new criticism aimed at the new players is unfair.
“It’s someone’s opinion that new players haven’t delivered,” he told The Guardian.
“Others might take it hard, but it doesn’t bother me. It’s easy to look at the table and think just because it’s not gone well in the league that it’s the new players’ fault. But that happens at every club.
“There are more than four or five players in a squad and we have all not done it, not just the new ones. It’s as a team. Sometimes the new ones haven’t played and we have lost games. It’s a building process, it takes time, it’s not overnight.
“There are seven or eight new players in the team and that’s quite a lot. You’re expected to come in and set the world alight but sometimes it doesn’t happen.
“But there are positives. We are building a good team. To win the Carling Cup in the first season and potentially the FA Cup as well would be a great start,” he confessed.
By Gareth McKnight
[ad_pod id=’dfp-mpu’ align=’right’]
