Brendan Rodgers spoke to the press in Bordeaux on Wednesday night ahead of Liverpool's Europa League tie in France. Here are the key points from the pre-match briefing.

On the Europa League…

My approach is what I did in this competition when I first came in, we played players that needed games and it’s my chance to look at some young players as well. Back then we finished top of the group and qualified, and that’s the objective. It’s very much the same here - we pick a team to win the game. We’ve got a lot of games coming up over the next couple of months and it’s ensuring that the squad all feel that they can participate in those games. I’ve got every confidence that any team we put out, in whatever competition, can win the game.

On Bordeaux…

They are all tough games. I watched the game [against Paris Saint-Germain] – they had a very good result. They had a man sent off late on as well. So we respect that it will be a tough game; they are a team that play good counter-attacking football, they have got fast players in their team and we respect them greatly. We understand our home games are very important but of course you want to pick up points away from home as well. We’ve got an experienced team here as well as some young players. That mix will hopefully get us a good result. And at this stage, for me, it’s really about trying to get a performance level because I think if we can get the performance level right, consequently that will lead to us getting consistent results.

On improving…

We’ve just got to improve the performance level across the board. In the opening games, we have got some good results in the five games. But over the course of the games I would want to see greater control in our game and greater intensity and more creativity. That’s something that will come by improving performances at home in the league and when you come into Europe as well. This is a tournament that we want to do well in; the objective firstly is to come out of the group.

On the team’s current form…

It has probably just been a combination of performances. When you look at the opening five games, we have got some good results and we’ve defended well in some of those, but we haven’t been at that level of intensity and the quality of our game. That’s something that I’ve really taken away from the performance at the weekend. We created some chances in the second half but this is a team that is very much about being on the front foot. It’s about ensuring that we have that courage to play and that idea to play with that freedom, but also within a structure that allows you to create chances but also retain the balance in your team to defend well. That’s something that we’ll really focus on in terms of creating a way which allows the players and talents that we have to express themselves but also to retain the balance in the team. That’s something we haven’t really seen, maybe in small patches of games but not enough over the course of how we want to work. From here going forward, we need to ensure that performance level is much better and we feel that we can do that. The players that will return to the team as well, the injured players coming back, gives us great opportunities to play the football that we want to play and get the results.

On squad selection…

There are obviously certain players that are left behind that will play [against Norwich City]. I didn’t feel the need to take some of them out because we have got other players playing in their position, so it’s better to stay at home and rest and get ready for the weekend if they’re required. But there’ll certainly be players that will play tomorrow night that will play at the weekend as well. That opportunity is there for the players that play tomorrow evening to hopefully put themselves in place to play at the weekend.

On pressure…

It is the same as it ever has been and probably what I’ve had for the last year or so. I don’t think it has increased – it’s the pressure that comes with managing a great club. It says everything that you lose a couple of games, and obviously they were disappointing performances, and that pressure comes. It’s something that I’ve always embraced and enjoyed because it’s something that tells me I’m at a top club, a leading club. When you work at that level, it’s about results and also the performances. Nothing has changed in that way. I just need to concentrate on getting the team right and getting the focus. In terms of the league it’s still very early; we’re only a few points off where we would want to be anyway, but we know that we need to get the ball rolling on that sooner rather than later in terms of winning more points. But the pressure is something that is always here and always will be, no matter whether you’re at the top or in the middle of the table. It’s part and parcel of being the manager at such a great club.