Programme notesJordan Henderson: No excuses - we need to put it right

The Reds head into this afternoon’s meeting with AFC Bournemouth at Anfield seeking their first win of the new Premier League campaign.

In his notes for the official matchday programme, captain Henderson writes: “Nobody needs to tell us that our start to the season hasn’t been good enough. Falling below the standards that we’ve set ourselves is not acceptable and it is something that we need to put right as soon as possible.

“We won’t be looking for excuses, feeling sorry for ourselves or hoping that things will get better. Whatever challenges we face, we are Liverpool players so we have to make things get better.

“I have heard a lot of theories about why our results have been poor in recent days but, again, we can’t and won’t be sucked into that. Yes, we will look at what isn’t working and look to correct those issues, but anything outside of this is just a distraction.

“It’s not as if we don’t have enough to fix anyway. Some of the fundamentals of our game that have served us so well in recent seasons have to be restored and this is on us and us alone.

“The challenge is that we have to do this in a league as competitive as the Premier League. Teams aren’t going to give us the time and space we need to get our act together, they are going to look to take advantage either in games against us or by picking up points in their own fixtures and building an advantage over us. This is the reality. It is an unforgiving league so the sooner we can improve our form and pick up points the better.

“If anyone is looking for a positive, it would be worth looking at how we’ve responded to setbacks in the recent past. This is not a team that accepts falling short. It never has been and hopefully never will be.

“Rest assured, the effort and commitment will be there and so will the desire to get back to our best so that we can deliver the kind of football that our fans deserve. This is not the kind of situation that any of us want to be in so it is absolutely vital that we all stick together and find strength in one another.

“Bournemouth will want to get in the way of that, of course. The fixtures haven’t been too kind to them at the start of the season, but they already have a good win on the board and having played with Scott Parker for England I know any team of his will play good football as well as fighting for their cause.

“We have to be ready for that and be ready and able to impose our own game on them. We haven’t done this enough in our first three games and we know this can’t carry on.”

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