Rodgers calls on Liverpool to lift Gerrard

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has
told his players that Steven Gerrard shouldn't be
solely responsible for inspiring another memorable
Champions League night at Anfield.
Rodgers' side have to beat Basel on Tuesday to
leapfrog the Swiss team in Group B and qualify
for the last 16 in a decisive match which has
echoes of the time Gerrard dragged Liverpool to
victory against Olympiakos in 2004.
The showdown with Basel comes almost exactly
10 years after the epic victory over the Greeks
when, with Liverpool needing to win by two clear
goals to make the knockout stages, Gerrard fired
home a powerful strike with four minutes to go to
clinch a 3-1 victory.
It was the beginning of the club's march towards
a famous fifth European Cup win in Istanbul
against AC Milan, but Rodgers insists the next
generation now need to rise to the occasion to
share the burden with their influential captain.
"In terms of Steven, we can't be just reliant solely
on him, this has to be about a team
performance," Rodgers said on Monday.
"We need other players to step up to the mark,
taking on responsibility and being a catalyst and
not place it on his shoulders.
"There are few world class players around so
when you are in a team that responsibility falls
even more so on you but it has never been about
that for us.
"For us to get a result tomorrow night we need
for the team to be performing well and get a
performance.
"This is a competition which has a great history
here for Liverpool and the Olympiakos game was
a part of that.
"It is an opportunity for the players now to qualify
and make sure they write themselves into folklore
by winning the game and ensuring they get into
the next round - because that is the objective."-
European elite -
Having fought so hard to get back among
Europe's elite after a five-year absence, to crash
out in the group stage would be a devastating
blow to Rodgers and his players, especially given
their struggle to replicate last season's challenge
for the Premier League title.
That makes this one of the most important one-
off ties of Rodgers' career and the Reds boss
says the only time he can remember such a
pressure-packed occasion was when he guided
former club Swansea to victory over Reading in
the 2011 Championship play-off final.
"It is a different competition and different level
but the importance is still everything," Rodgers
said.