Houllier said: "I was reading the programme at the weekend and the opening sentence read: 'Liverpool are a club in crisis'.
"It went on to say they finished 4th, 3rd and then 2nd in three seasons, they managed to win five trophies, they played in the Champions League on two occasions and they are just about to play their third domestic final in two years.
"When I read that it put it into perspective for me that we have been doing well. What a crisis it has been! We have now reached a phase where we are having an indifferent run, but that happens in any walk of life. We have to go through that spell, get on with it and bounce back even stronger.
"If you put things into perspective, we still have a lot to play for this season.
"I can understand the criticism because it is part of the job when the results are not good. I don't like reading bad things but it happens. It hurts when it's unfair and some of it has been.
"We're not happy with our league form. We've had too many draws, especially at home. Our strikers haven't provided as many goals as we would have expected, but that is understandable considering that three of them went to the World Cup where they reached the quarter finals. It took time for them to get back to their best."