Stewart Downing does not think Liverpool's most recent recruits should shoulder all the blame for a frustratingly inconsistent season.
Squad responsibility for Liverpool's disappointing league campaign
Stewart Downing does not think Liverpool's most recent recruits should shoulder all the blame for a frustratingly inconsistent season.
The former Aston Villa winger was among the players to move to Anfield last summer as more than £80million was spent on new players.
Liverpool were as a result expected to challenge for the Premier League title, but, despite winning the Carling Cup and reaching Saturday's FA Cup final, they have fallen well short.
Downing, along with the likes of Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam, has had to take the bulk of the scrutiny, however, the England international thinks it is a squad responsibility.
"I've heard the criticism about the new signings, but it's someone's opinion. Others might take it hard, but it doesn't bother me," he said in the
Daily Mirror.
"It's easy to look and think just because it's not gone well in the league it's the new players. But that happens at every club.
Revenge
"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 just a building process, it takes time, it's not overnight.
"To win the Carling Cup in the first season and potentially the FA Cup as well would be a great start."
Meanwhile, Downing, who was the man of the match in the Carling Cup final as Liverpool defeated Cardiff on penalties, is out for revenge against Chelsea in the FA Cup final.
The boyhood Middlesbrough fan is still scarred by Roberto Di Matteo's goal in the opening seconds of the 1997 final and he wants payback on Chelsea's current interim first-team coach.
Downing said: "We all still remember Di Matteo's goal so early, going off the bar - I've hated him ever since."
