THE Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has seen it all, and done it all, before but his manager Brendan Rodgers has urged the rest of his squad to do their bit to join the midfielder as part of the club's folklore.

THE Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has seen it all, and done it all, before but his manager Brendan Rodgers has urged the rest of his squad to do their bit to join the midfielder as part of the club's folklore.

The Reds have to beat Basle at Anfield tomorrow if they are to keep their Champions League dream alive and the match has echoes of the game against Olympiacos in 2004.

It is exactly 10 years to the day when, with his side needing to win by two clear goals to make the knockout stages, Gerrard smashed home with four minutes to go to clinch a 3-1 victory.

It was the beginning of the club's march towards a famous fifth European Cup win in Istanbul against AC Milan ?? a match which Gerrard heavily influenced again ?? but Rodgers insists the next generation now need to rise to the occasion.

"In terms of Steven, we can't be just reliant solely on him, this has to be about a team performance," said Rodgers.

"We need other players to step up to the mark, taking on responsibility and being a catalyst and not place it on his shoulders.

"There are few world class players around so when you are in a team that responsibility falls even more so on you but it has never been about that for us.

"For us to get a result we need for the team to be performing well and get a performance.

"This is a competition which has a great history here for Liverpool and the Olympiacos game was a part of that.

"It is an opportunity for the players now to qualify and make sure they write themselves into folklore by winning the game and ensuring they get into the next round ?? because that is the objective."

Rodgers insists there have been numerous occasions during his two and a half years at Anfield when his side have faced "win or bust" scenarios but in truth this is the only one of real significance.

Having fought so hard to get back among Europe's elite after a five-year absence to crash out in the group stage would be a devastating blow.

"It is a different competition and different level but the importance is still everything," he added.

"It is a game we just want to stay focused on what we have to do.

"The importance of the game is there: to get through and qualify. In my time here we have had games that were deemed as "must win" games and more times than not we have won them.

"We arrive into tomorrow night with great confidence that we can get the job done.

"We are only focusing on the positive result. We see it as an opportunity rather than a threat to anything we are doing this season."

While Rodgers finds himself in need of a result to dampen criticism, Arsene Wenger takes a young Arsenal side to Istanbul safe in the knowledge that his side side will be involved in Champions League football after Christmas. However, the Frenchman has been a target for the same kind of disquiet that his Northern Irish counterpart has suffered this season.

Wenger, though, has called on everyone to judge Arsenal at the end of the season - not just when emotions are running high in the disappointment of defeat.

The Gunners headed to Turkey yesterday looking to erase thoughts of the Barclays Premier League loss at Stoke, where they had trailed 3-0 at half-time having gone behind after just 19 seconds on another afternoon to forget at the Britannia Stadium.

Wenger was later jeered and subjected to some aggressive personal abuse as the players boarded the train back to London.

However, the 65-year-old insists everyone must take a distance on current issues, with Arsenal having left several senior men such as Alexis Sanchez back in London and travelled to Turkey to face Galatasaray with half-a-dozen youngsters for the final Champions League Group D tie, the team have already qualified for the last 16.

"Look, the response after a defeat is always very important. What we want is to come back quickly to a strong defensive performance, what we had before the game [on Saturday]," said Wenger, whose side are sixth in the Premier League table

"We showed a lack of experience defensively [at Stoke], but we could have scored four or five goals in this game and the team response during this game was quite strong.

"For the rest, you expect that everyone is disappointed after that result, but the Premier League is difficult.

"We want to be judged at the end of the season, not after every single game where it is normal that emotion is always very high, so let us get our stability back defensively and see at the end of the season where we are."

Wenger maintains the constant criticism from some sections of Arsenal support is not wearing him down.

"No, not at all. We have to cope with that. We are professional footballers. What is important is the next game and the desire to do it," said Wenger, who ended a nine-season trophy drought with victory in the 2014 FA Cup final.

"It is part of our job here, you cannot always look for excuses. We are down. Everyone feels it.

"When you have a disappointment you respond in a strong way, that is what competition is about."

Wenger took the unusual step of naming his starting XI in the pre-match press conference.

"To make it as simple as possible, I have 11 experienced players and six young field players on the bench. That means I have nothing to hide," said Wenger, whose team must win and then hope Borussia Dortmund lose to finish top of the group.

Full-back Mathieu Debuchy returns from three-months out with an ankle injury, while Hector Bellerin and Calum Chambers will also play. Lukas Podolski, Yaya Sanogo and Joel Campbell will lead the attack.

Wenger added: "The players who needed it stayed behind ?? like Cazorla, Sanchez, Gibbs ?? Giroud is not qualified ?? and Welbeck, who could have travelled but recently had a little knee problem, so took advantage of that to rest him.

"Sanchez had a groin problem for some time, and he has played 27 games . . . it is more just the number of repetitive games we have."