Gerrard: Keep faith in our character
Steven Gerrard delivered a frank assessment of his performance against Aston Villa on Saturday, but urged Liverpool fans to take some consolation from the way their team fought back from 2-0 down.
The Reds saw a run of eight consecutive victories halted at Anfield, as Brendan Rodgers' side fell behind to two first-half strikes before levelling the game at 2-2.
Gerrard kept his calm to slot from the penalty spot in the 51st minute after Daniel Sturridge clipped over Brad Guzan moments before half-time.
Reflecting on the match, the skipper told Liverpoolfc.com: "I think after going 2-0 down, we showed good fight and good character to get back into it.
"We're happy we didn't lose the game, but I think we'll see it as two points dropped because of the form we have been in at home. If we had played anywhere near that [level], we would beat Aston Villa. But it didn't pan out like that.
"We've played so well this season. I think the fans expect us to steamroll most teams here. Sometimes sides come and have a good day and we are a little bit off it and we get punished like we did in the first half.
"But I think the character and the fight we showed, that's the message the fans need to believe in going forward."
On playing in the deeper role in front of the back four for much of the game, Gerrard said: "I think because of the change, I expect people to talk about it.
"I've played attacking midfield for more than 10 years, so for me to drop back and become more of a controlling player, people are naturally going to talk about it.
"It didn't work today. I hope that doesn't mean it won't work moving forward in future fixtures. We'll have to wait and see what the manager decides to do."
Villa broke the deadlock in the match after 25 minutes when Christian Benteke released Gabriel Agbonlahor, who sped clear of the Liverpool defence before squaring low for Andreas Weimann to tap home.
The Reds were unlocked again 10 minutes later when Agbonlahor centred from the opposite flank and Benteke gratefully nodded home into an empty net after Simon Mignolet failed to claim the cross.
"Sometimes you've got to give opposition teams credit," said Gerrard. "They started very well, they had a lot of bodies in the opposition half of the pitch and they swamped us.
"We found it very difficult to get the game under control. I, personally, struggled in there for 45 minutes.
"It wasn't until Brendan changed the formation and went to three at the back with wing-backs and the extra body in the midfield, that we got control. Then we took over and we became the better team."