• Basel 1-0 Liverpool

Gerrard: Second-best Liverpool too soft all over the pitch

Steven Gerrard said Liverpool's recent record of conceding from set pieces 'is not good enough' © Getty Images

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Steven Gerrard has hit out at Liverpool's defending during the 1-0 Champions League defeat to Basel.

Gerrard admitted it was a frustrating night as Marco Streller notched the only goal of the game, leaving Liverpool - who now face back-to-back matches with Real Madrid - with an uphill task to get out of the group.

"We didn't deserve anything out of this game at all," Gerrard told Sky Sports. "We were too soft all over the pitch and I thought they wanted it more, which was very disappointing.

"Conceding again from a set-piece isn't good enough so we need to get it right - you're not going to win football matches if you keep conceding from set-pieces.

"We were second best at times against an okay team, I wouldn't say we were played off the park or they were fantastic tonight but we made it easy for them. We wanted something out this game, at least a draw. We came for the win, I expected us to win, so it's very disappointing."

"There were signs against Everton that we were coming back closer to where we wanted to be, we were aggressive when we were without the ball against Everton but we went back to where we've been for most of the season today which is not good enough."

Manager Brendan Rodgers echoed his captain's feelings, admitting he didn't think his side "were technically very good".

He added: "Once we started to combine and pass the ball we created good openings and enough chances to certainly at least get something from the game. But we defended very, very poorly from the corner [for the goal] and again, it's becoming a symptom of poor defending for us and it's not the first time for us.

"So it's very disappointing we couldn't get something from the game."

Rodgers also said striker Mario Balotelli "needs to do more".

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd