Jordan Henderson admitted Liverpool must do better after limping to a disappointing 2-2 opening-day draw at Fulham.
The Reds had to come from behind twice at Craven Cottage to earn their point, with Aleksandar Mitrovic’s brace cancelled out by close-range strikes from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah respectively.
Skipper Henderson, 32, believed Jurgen Klopp’s second-half changes played their part but bemoaned his side’s overall performance level in West London.
The midfielder said: “Our subs made a big impact in the game. Darwin scored and we could have had one or two more. But there’s a lot to work on.
“I know it’s only the first day of the season, but I think we wanted to start a lot better than that.
“But there’s still a long way to go and we need to improve quickly. We’ve got a decent seven or eight days now to prepare for the next game, so we need to use that as much as we can.
“We knew it would be tough before the game, against a newly promoted side. We knew it would be a tough game, so there’s no excuses from us.
“I felt as though we looked a little bit lethargic at times, we didn’t play the way we normally do, and you get punished in the Premier League.”
The Sunderland-born star could have won the game in the dying moments when his curling effort smacked against the crossbar.
“When it was rolling, I felt as though I had a sniff,” he confessed. “I caught it quite well.
“I think if it was just a bit more left it might have went in, but unfortunately I don’t know whether their keeper touched it or it just hit the bar. But it’s fine margins.”
Klopp will now have time to iron out any issues on the training pitch with Liverpool not back in action until a week on Monday, when they welcome Crystal Palace to Anfield.