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Reds need new faces
by Paul Higham -  created on 11 Jun 2005


Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry admits the club must improve their squad quickly as they face an early start to a hectic new season.

The Reds have been allowed to defend their UEFA Champions League trophy, although Europe's governing body have made them work extra hard for it.

Some have criticised Uefa for making their own champions kick off the campaign at the first qualifying stage along with a host of European minnows.

It now means that Rafa Benitez's side must play six games just to get into the Champions League group stages, where the holders normally start their defence of the trophy.

Parry now says that the club's officials will have to step up their pursuit of new players as the squad needs strengthening for the new campaign.

"Wherever the best players are, we will be going," said Parry. "We will be looking for players of quality and players who have heart.

"We need lads who are going to battle for 38 matches a season.

"Our first 11 is fine, but it's when you get below that and you have to battle for points. That's where we have fallen short.

"At the end of the season the league table doesn't lie. We need a better squad, we need more strength and depth.

"How do you improve a team? You get better players of course."

The Reds will face a massive fixture pile-up early in the season, and ironically their engagements for Uefa, including the Super Cup in August and World Club Championship in December will not help matters.

Dietmar Hamann says that players will not mind the earlier start to competitive action, as they were just desperate to defend the trophy they won so magnificently in Istanbul against Milan.

"It's tremendous news for the club and we're delighted to be in there," said Hamann.

"We start pre-season on 27 June and we've got two or three weeks to get us into physical shape for the first round.

"We'll do our best. We've got to go through the qualifying rounds and we'll do our best to defend the trophy."