The England midfielder is frustrated by the way Liverpool have failed to keep up with Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal in the Premeir League, and says the club must invest in new players this summer.

He wants the club's American owners to keep their promise to invest in the squad, saying: "The manager knows where we need to strengthen and the players and fans have faith in Rafa - but he needs the backing to act on his plans."

Gerrard told the News of the World: "I've won every major honour at Liverpool except one. It hurts more and more not only to have never won the league, but to have never really gone close.

"It would be bad enough if we only narrowly missed out on the title, but we've never got to March or April recently and thought we were in contention.

"That's what we want more than anything at Anfield, but we'll only achieve that when everyone is working together for the same goal."