Brendan Rodgers: It is difficult to play one-touch football on Anfield's old pitch

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has blamed the Anfield pitch for the Reds' poor form in all competitions this season.

The Merseyside club have managed only three wins from nine league matches played at home this season. In addition, they were knocked out of the Champions League after they settled for a 1-1 draw against FC Basel at Anfield.

The former Swansea boss has been highly critical of the playing surface since he joined Liverpool in 2012. The Northern Irishman revealed that the 18-times English champions will have a new pitch installed for the next season.

"We will be getting a new pitch next summer to help the speed of our game. It is an old pitch that has not been upgraded for some years and it can be a disadvantage for us. It is difficult to play one-touch football on it," Rodgers said, as quoted by the Telegraph.

"It is nothing to do with the ground staff at the club or at Melwood, who are outstanding, it is just because the pitch is old. We will do the best on it until the end of the season."

Liverpool made it to the last four of the Capital One Cup after registering a victory over Bournemouth in the quarter finals. In the last league clash, the Reds came from behind to settle for a 2-2 draw against Arsenal at Anfield.

Rodgers has urged his players to continue their aggression for the remainder of the season in order to help Liverpool bounce back from their poor start to the campaign.

"The performance level for me is key. It's always a great indicator of how you're doing and over the course of the last week you can see the heightened confidence," the Liverpool manager explained.

"You don't play as well as that if you don't have confidence. We're at our best when our game is aggressive and I think we've had to adapt the way we play this year because of personnel.

"So for us it was about trying to find the solution to get back that intensity and tempo to our game, which is critical in terms of how we work."

"That's key, that real aggressive pressure at the top end of the field. The players are starting to adapt and performances will get better and better," he added.