Murphy hits back at Houllier critics

The 26-year-old England international has been Liverpool's most consistent performer this term with his twelve goals proving invaluable to a team still heavily reliant upon Michael Owen. As well as being a strong force on the pitch, Murphy has taken it upon himself to be a rare voice of reason amidst the excuses and the spin that have followed Liverpool this season. With Houllier facing one of the most important games of his managerial career, Murphy has again saw fit to make his opinion clear.

Murphy said: To those people who have criticised the manager this season, I'd say to look at how far we've come since he's been here.

"The fact that people now expect us to win the Premiership and progress to the later stages of the Champions League shows that the expectancy level has risen so much through his success.

"Maybe he's made a rod for his own back with his success because people look at the standards we have set and say they should now always be maintained.

"When a club and a team like ours is progressing in the way it has done there will always come a time when there's a blip and for us that has come this season.

"But if we qualify for the Champions League after winning the Worthington Cup it won't be that bad a blip.

"The gaffer has been excellent with us this season. He's very good at knowing when to give you a pat on the back and when to give you a kick up the backside and whether he does it privately or publicly.

"There was a stage this season when Steven Gerrard went from not playing his best football to being our best player because the manager dealt with him in the right way.

"The manager's been good with me in that respect as well in the past. He has known when I need a talking to and I think all players need that from time to time."