Steven Gerrard questions Liverpool’s desire. Has he got a point?

Steven Gerrard is not a happy man.
Following Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat to Basel in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, the Reds have now lost four of their opening nine games in all competitions this season and just don’t seem to be clicking into the form which almost saw them win the Premier League title last season.
[RELATED: 3 things on Liverpool's loss]
Gerrard, 34, believes a lack of desire is one of the main issues impacting the Anfield club, as Liverpool’s 17-year veteran midfielder has called out his teammates.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the defeat to Basel, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard gave an honest assessment of his teams outing.

“I think we created a good few openings where you would expect us to go and score but we didn’t deserve anything out of this game,” Gerrard said. “I thought we were too soft all over the pitch. I thought they wanted it more, which is very disappointing. Conceding again from a set-piece isn’t good enough, so we need to get it right. You’re not going to win a football match if you keep conceding from set-pieces. I thought we were second-best at times tonight… We were aggressive with and without the ball against Everton but we went back to where we have been for most of the season tonight, which is not good enough.”

‘Stevie G’ is not pulling any punches but is he justified for questioning his teammates effort?
I’m not sure. Look, Mario Balotelli has one goal in seven games so far but you can’t tell me he isn’t putting in plenty of effort in each game. The same can be said for fellow new boys Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana, Alberto Moreno, Rickie Lambert and Lazar Markovic. Things just haven’t clicked so far.
Without Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, who bailed Liverpool out of so many tricky positions last season with their goalscoring exploits, I wonder whether or not this Liverpool team is currently good enough to challenge for the top four in the PL and do well in the Champions League.
That’s no slight on the players at Anfield, but we all have to agree that they overachieved massively in 2013-14. With Sturridge gradually returning from injury and so many new players continuing to bed themselves in, better times are ahead for Brendan Rodgers. Those people calling for him to be fired have to take a long, hard look at themselves. Rodgers has been instrumental in rejuvenating one of England’s biggest teams and he should be given all the time he needs to right this shaky start to the 2014-15 season.
I get it, Gerrard is trying to issue a rallying call and firing a rocket up the backside of the new guys to let them know that losing games at a club like Liverpool isn’t good enough. That said, questioning his teammates desire and commitment seems a little wide of the mark.