Sky Sports pundit and former Bluenose Andy Gray believes Gerard Houllier fails to motivate his troops enough.
Despite praising the newboy Diouf, Gray is sure to upset supporters when they see him write off Liverpool's title challenge and at the same time, criticise Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier.
"El Hadji Diouf has made a fabulous start to his Liverpool career, scoring twice as the Reds started the Premiership season with two wins out of two," said Gray.
"I've thought that for the last few years, Liverpool have lacked a goalscorer to complement Michael Owen. I never thought Emile Heskey would score enough goals to warrent his place in the starting line-up.
 | Gray (left) at Anfield last season |
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"Diouf may well fill the gap. He's young, he's inexperienced and he's relatively unknown still, but if he and Michael can form a lethal partnership - and the early signs look good - they they could provide that something extra.
"Having said that, I don't think they will. I still think there is something missing and I'm not sure what that is. Watching them in the Charity Shield, they looked exactly the same as last year.
"Yes, they have beaten Villa 1-0 and won 3-0 at home, but I still have a feeling they will come up short. Perhaps what they are lacking is the genuine belief that they really can do it.
"The manager doesn't portray that belief and that's something that you sometimes need to hear as a player - your manager coming out and saying: 'Yes, we're going to win the league'.
