Jordan Henderson was forced to admit that some of his Liverpool teammates needed a "kick up the backside" to help jumpstart the Reds' season.
The Liverpool captain led his side to a convincing 2-0 victory over Rangers in the Champions League on Tuesday, only their second win in five games. Amid an inquest into the Reds' poor start to the campaign, Henderson has been racking his brain to find methods of motivation in the dressing room.
"I've got to sense certain individuals at times need an arm around the shoulder, some of them might need a kick up the backside at times but it's trying to find the balance," the 32-year-old explained to BT Sport post-match. "When we're on the pitch, it's not personal, you try to shout, dictate and do what helps the team.
"Off the field, you can help the players and help them as much as possible and I try and use that responsibility but we've got other senior players and experienced players within the dressing room who do that. It's about staying together as a team especially when you go through tough moments - we've been through plenty of them as a team - and we have to use our experience to get through this one."
Henderson's teammates - such as Tuesday's opening goalscorer, Trent Alexander-Arnold - have come in for fierce criticism in recent weeks, with pundits picking out their faults and questioning Liverpool's credentials to produce another impressive season.
That prompted the Reds midfielder to launch a defence of Alexander-Arnold after lifting the lid on how tough dealing with criticism can be. "I think it can be difficult, you try not to listen to social media especially when you're going through a tough period as a footballer or a team," Henderson went on to say.
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"You have to switch off social media, the noise around and focus on what you do day-to-day and improve your performance, the team and stay focussed on the team. And that's not easy, with everything that goes on in the outside world and it can hurt players at times, you've got to try find a way to use it as fuel and find a way to use it on the pitch to prove people wrong. That's what I've learned the older I've got."
On Alexander-Arnold's security, the England international added: "I think you've got to give Trent the licence to get forward at times and produce what he can produce in the final third. I thought he was good defensively tonight, he done the basics well and overall, I thought it was a really good performance - I didn't have to cover much.
"I felt good out there but I thought we played some really good stuff, change of formation a bit, first-half especially I thought we were really good. Intensity levels were there, overall we've got to be happy with the performance."
