Fernando Torres urges Liverpool’s owners to act

Fernando Torres has become the first Liverpool player to break ranks and demand action from the club's owners as the Reds season goes from bad to worse.

However, Rafa Benitez made light of the situation on Friday when he parodied his famous Manchester United rant of last season and apologised for his side's form.

Torres, who will be forced to spend the next six weeks on the sidelines after undergoing surgery on his knee, says Liverpool's American backers have to act and release funds to bring in new players during the transfer window.

He spoke out after an an absolutely disastrous week for Liverpool, which has seen co-owner Tom Hicks's son forced to step down over abusive emails to fans, an ignominious exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Championship Reading, growing calls for manager Rafa Benitez to be sacked and injuries to Torres, Steven Gerrard and Yossi Benayoun.

"It's frustrating. We finished second last season. This season should have been a turning point for us - a chance to do something great. But it hasn't been," said Torres.

He told the Times: "It's now the owners' turn. They have to sign players so that this does not happen again. If we want to compete with United and Chelsea we need a much, much more complete squad. We need more genuinely first-class players and we can't let our best players leave."

He added in an interview with 4-4-2 magazine that if Liverpool did not win the Europa League - the only trophy they are still in with a chance of winning - it would be "terrible".

But Benitez, who is not known for his sense of humour, showed a self-deprecating streak as he pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket at a press conference on Friday and announced: "Before we start - some facts."

It was a reprisal of his famous outburst last season in which he outlined several 'facts' about Manchester United. But this time round he was talking about his own side and told reporters: "We are not playing well and everyone here feels sorry for our fans."

However Benitez is still up against it. The club's deeply unpopular American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have said that Liverpool's parlous finances mean he cannot splash out during the January transfer window. Although they have relented on their earlier stance and said funds from the possible sale of Ryan Babel can be used to bring in new players.

Hicks has promised that Liverpool will spend "big" in the summer, but it remains to be seen if Benitez is still at the club by then. The owners have backed him until the end of the season, but it has been reported that he could be replaced by Guus Hiddink and bookies have made him odds-on favourite to be dismissed before the season ends.

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