TOMKINS: 'TIS THE SEASON TO BE MERRY
Paul Tomkins 30 December 2008

It's a shame trophies aren't awarded on calendar years; if they were, 2009 would have been a memorable campaign for Liverpool.
Obviously that's not the way prizes are dished out. But the success in terms of improvement is there for all to see. I think I'm right in saying that the Reds won more Premiership points than anyone else in 2008. It's also the club's best calendar year since 1990, when they last won the league. Back then under Kenny Dalglish, it wasn't just landing the title but also an incredible start to the following season; I went to my first game at Anfield in October 1990, as Liverpool beat Derby 2-0 to secure the eighth straight win from the start of the season. So 1990 was no ordinary year. Of course, the pressures are different when you're going through the 2nd half of the league season without the title at stake, as was the case at the start of 2008, even if trying to secure a top four finish after a difficult winter had its own problems. And as we saw in 1990/91, when the Reds fell away after Kenny Dalgish's resignation, it's not how well you start the season that matters most, but the position in which you end it. But what this calendar year proves is how consistent Liverpool have become as a league team. And to enter the New Year in such a good position is hugely encouraging. If this doesn't prove to be the Reds' season, at least we're seeing a progression. Liverpool's home form has been criticised of late, and yet it was an unbeaten 12 months in the league at Anfield. It was also an unbeaten year home and away in the Champions League based on 90-minute group matches and 180-minute knockout ties, against teams like Atletico Madrid, Marseilles, Arsenal, Inter Milan and Chelsea (defeat at Stamford Bridge coming in extra-time). The biggest bonus over the festive period has been how well the 'squad' players have performed. Ludicrously written off after one nightmare in the Carling Cup, the fringe players have shown that they have real talent and ability. Some are experienced internationals who can't quite be squeezed into the starting XI, others are making their progress from the reserves. Ryan Babel, whose chances have been limited by the in-form Riera, came in against Newcastle, and scored. Lucas came in for the in-form Alonso, and had his best game in a red shirt. Ngog came on, won a penalty, and had a legitimate goal chalked off. Emiliano Insua has started the last few matches, and looks like he's been in the team his whole life. Sami Hyppia, meanwhile, just seems to get better and better with age, to give the manager a welcome selection headache now that all four centre-backs are fit. Like Hyypia, Yossi Benayoun was not featuring much earlier in the season, yet scored a vital goal at Blackburn a few weeks back and set up goals against Bolton and Newcastle. Robbie Keane was out of the frame for a few games, then came in and notched three in five days. And Nabil El Zhar has become a great asset to unleash from the bench. This is what we wanted, isn't it? Strength in depth being proved with Premiership results? And yet, despite leading the league, and in spite of injuries to key players, too much of the talk remains about the negative connotations of rotation. Newcastle away was the perfect example of why some degree of rotation is vital, particularly with the way the Reds play. Yes, there's no league game for a while now, but this away fixture, against a Newcastle side rejuvenated at home, came just 43 hours after the Bolton game ended. If you can't even freshen things up over the hectic festive programme, when can you? The inclusion of Mascherano and Lucas signalled Liverpool's intent - fast pressing and closing down. High energy, fast tempo. So it was no accident Newcastle were overwhelmed. Despite resting three of the best technical players at the club, Liverpool bossed possession and, quite frankly, could have won by a double-figure margin. When Andy Gray says 9-1 wouldn't have flattered Liverpool, you know it could have been 12-1. I got a little stick from some quarters for praising Lucas' display at Arsenal, but I thought he was very good that day. I feel I must have seen something those fans hadn't, because he took the basis of that performance and built on it at St James'. He was excellent. As well as his tackling and closing down, he could have scored three goals and had three assists, but for some remarkable goalkeeping from Shay Given and an unjust offside flag when he presented Ngog with an unmissable chance to make it 6-1. As it was, he produced one of the passes of the season for Gerrard's second, as part of a wonderful one-two. It also irks me that Liverpool were again described as deploying two holding midfielders. Maybe it's just the term, because when other teams play central midfielders they are just that; but Liverpool's are ‘holding', which implies negativity and caution. Lucas is far from a holding midfielder. He is a box-to-box midfielder who can get ahead of play, albeit one a little lacking in confidence earlier this season, which may have made him a little less ambitious in his forward movements. Xabi Alonso is also not a holding midfielder, unless he's paired with Steven Gerrard (in which case it's far from two holding midfielders!). And even then, the Spaniard can carve teams apart with one pass from his own half, and score goals from open play, so it's not like he's in the mould of Claude Makelele. The only true holding midfielder is Mascherano, and outstanding he is at it, too. Even then, the Argentine was in Newcastle's box to set Benayoun free to create the first goal, so it's not like his role is inflexible and he cannot join attacks. (Damien Plessis is another who most holds, but is of course only at the fringes of the first-team squad at this stage.) And harking back to another of my bugbears, how outstanding does Steven Gerrard have to be and how many goals does he have to score when playing in the hole to stop being labelled a mere ‘midfielder'? Was Kuyt really the ‘lone striker' at Newcastle? On another day, Gerrard might have had a dozen goals himself from his free attacking role. So much of the criticism of Liverpool, which continues despite pole position, is about misconceptions. For some people, nothing Benítez does will ever be right. They are like hawks waiting to swoop. Zonal marking was criticised again, yet it's still worked very well this season, bar a few inevitable blips. If Newcastle were an advert for man-marking, then no thanks! And how did Chelsea's man-marking work out this weekend? It led to conceding two costly goals. With Rafa's team selections constantly questioned, some of his signings written off, his zonal marking system derided, his substitutions criticised, his man-management castigated, his style branded as too cautious and the strength of his squad doubted, you'd think Liverpool were in the relegation zone, not sitting clear at the top of the Premiership and imperious in Europe – despite the prolonged absence of his main striker, Fernando Torres, who has only started seven league games, and limped off very early in one of those (and naturally lacked sharpness in others). If Benítez choses to change the system or the personnel, it's with good reason, and not to prove a point or show how clever he is. It's to win games. I was obviously irritated by the constant talk of Robbie Keane being 'dropped' for the trip to Newcastle, and the regular shots of him on the bench, even when Liverpool were 5-1 up. I'm sorry, but the story was Liverpool winning in style, nothing else. Keane had run himself into the ground against Bolton, and while more confident as a result of that game, his sharpness could easily have been blunted. Kuyt, whose energy seems boundless and who was taken off on Boxing Day, may not have scored at St James', but look again at how he physically bossed Collocini, and how many chances he was involved in, and you can see why, tactically speaking, it was spot-on. Against Arsenal, Rafa was criticised for taking Keane off, then in the next game the striker scored two more goals. Against Newcastle Rafa was criticised for omitting him when on top form, yet the Reds scored five away from home. So is the manager not getting things right more often than wrong? It must be hard for the player, but equally, he's at a massive club, and all of the ‘big four' employ a rotation policy. That's life at the top. And of course, he can look at the league table and take pride at the part he has played in getting his boyhood favourites three points clear, and know that his good form will help him start more games in the future, even if not the one immediately after a tireless display. There's a long way to go, and the pressure will mount on the club. But confidence can be taken from the fact that 18 games have been won and only one lost this season (excluding the Carling Cup); the way the goals are being shared around in the absence of Torres; the continued miserly defending, no matter who is in the side; and most of all, that the club are motoring on all major fronts. Keep it going, and it really could be the season to be merry.

TOMKINS: WHAT CONCLUSIONS TO DRAW?
Paul Tomkins 22 December 2008

It's getting very hard to judge a lot of Liverpool's games lately. The football Gods are giving with one hand, taking back with the other.
A microcosm of the season as a whole, the game in north London was a mixture of hugely encouraging signs and a few continued nagging doubts. Liverpool have clearly progressed this season, but only, it seems, to realistic levels. There hasn't been a super-human leap, but then again, we've seen very little of the team that the manager would like to put out, in order to make conclusive judgements. ‘Draw' is the operative word this week, with another comeback to earn a point, and with the legendary Real Madrid pulled out of the hat. These are exciting times. (If you don't feel that way, check that you have a pulse.) A point at the Emirates, having been the far better side in all senses for 60 minutes and fallen a goal behind against the run of play, is something to celebrate, particularly with the Gunners having saved their best for the big teams. And yet the last 30 minutes were largely frustrating, as the Reds failed to make the extra man count. So yet again there's a tinge of disappointment. It's a shame that the sending off worked against Liverpool in a lot of ways; the crowd became far more belligerent and hostile (backing their side with fervour, rather than the unhelpful silence or barracking that would otherwise have ensued), and Arsenal, fuelled with a sense of injustice and nothing to lose, went for it. The game became scrappy and Liverpool lost their momentum, as the pressure was shifted back onto the grey shirts. Up to that point, Liverpool were embarrassing the hosts, who couldn't get near the ball. What Arsenal did lose, however, was a player who could have helped get them a goal out of nothing. So for all their huffing and puffing with ten men, they never really worried the Liverpool goal. The positives for Liverpool were manifest. It was the Reds' best display away at Arsenal for many a year, and yet another comeback; Robbie Keane scored a marvellous goal; teenage left-back Emiliano Insua was superb at both ends of the pitch; and another youngster, Lucas, put in a fine display of quick harassing and clever passing, not to mention one of the game's best efforts on goal. From the bench, yet another of the younger players, Nabil El Zhar, almost won the game with a header won against the odds, and showed terrific determination in everything he did. And the impressive Daniel Agger, who only last week turned 24, was millimetres from reprising his West Ham wonder-goal. Behind the Dane, Pepe Reina was barely troubled all afternoon. Even up to last season, Liverpool had failed to look the part away from home against the big sides. It was noted as a big flaw. That has not been the case this season. The Reds tended to start those games fairly well, but fall away badly after going a goal behind. Now they can go to places like The Emirates and Stamford Bridge and look the better side. It's nearly a decade since the Reds out-passed teams like Arsenal and Chelsea on their own patch in league encounters. (Last season's draw at Arsenal was in truth more of a reserve match.) Snatch-and-grab raids were performed by Houllier's Reds, and in the early years of Benítez's reign little more could be asked for than to try and continue that trend. Now the football is much better in the big arenas. But a run of Anfield draws, against teams with less pedigree, inevitably meant that three points at the Emirates would have provided ample recompense for those dropped at home. It's obvious but true: the Reds need to get back to winning ways soon. It's unclear whether or not Liverpool are stuttering because they are top and under more pressure, or simply having a difficult run of form that all teams experience – when wins are hard to come by, and performances are inconsistent. The pressure is clearly not helping, and has to be got used to, but nor is the absence of key players, most notably Fernando Torres. Other teams miss key players, but he offers something extra that cannot be replaced. As Arsene Wenger rightly said before the match, you can get by without your best players in the short-term, but in the long term they will be missed. It's not just Torres' talent, but his pace, which Liverpool don't necessarily have in lots of areas. Steven Gerrard is the only other regular from the front six who has real acceleration. (Mascherano has a good turn of pace, but is obviously more of a defensive player.) Equally, none of Liverpool's full-backs has the kind of blistering pace that enables them to overlap with real menace. They are more footballing full-backs than athletes. One player who does offer genuine pace is Ryan Babel, but his playing time has been limited by the arrival of Albert Riera, who gives the team balance and width, but who tends to beat players with a piece of skill rather than a quick pair of heels. Kuyt's ability to create and score goals from the right, as well as great defensive cover when tracking back – and just his all-round commitment – makes it hard to displace him on that flank without losing something important. Up front, Keane is lively and clever in his movement, but not electric. And that's why the decisions can get tricky. El Zhar and David Ngog both have a real turn of speed, but both are still quite raw, although the former has surprised me with his progress this season. Daniel Pacheco is another very quick player, who is also blessed with bags of skill, but at 17 he's still got some way to go. In time, he could well add another dimension to the Reds' attack, but obviously not right now. And so just where to play Babel is a big dilemma. Some may argue that he's not had enough starts, while others will counter that his form hasn't been the best, which leads to a ‘chicken and egg' debate. He's a player I love to see in the team, but I also understand the tactical reasons why he hasn't featured as much lately. And with the Reds top of both the Premiership and their European group, those who haven't featured as much as they would like have had few opportunities to suggest they could have done better. Also, Babel's favoured position is the one from which Steven Gerrard has been banging in the goals. Drop the captain back into midfield, and you have to omit either Mascherano or Alonso, and much of the success this season has been built on that particular platform. So the system and the personnel have largely worked this season, without being perfect. Add Torres, and you can see a really top side emerging. What you don't expect a manager to do is abandon his principles at the first run of less-than-perfect results, but of course, it's up to Rafa and his coaching staff to get things back on track. The first aim of the season had to be that of being well positioned in the Premiership at Christmas, and in the last 16 in Europe. Those boxes can be ticked. The next goal has to be perform well against the mighty Real Madrid, at a time when still in contention for the league title. When you draw a massive name, the European Cup almost becomes a bonus, and I prefer it like that; I'd prefer the big nights at Anfield with the crowd hyped up than the occasions when the atmosphere is more sedate. In return, the fear and respect the Spanish champions will experience when facing the Reds is the most clear indication of how far Liverpool have come in recent seasons. A handful of years ago we'd have laughed ourselves silly at suggestions that the Reds might be favourites to go through in such an encounter. And an extra element of that respect will be because Liverpool have led the Premiership in recent weeks. If Chelsea do leapfrog the Reds on Merseyside tonight, it's worth remembering how well positioned Benítez's boys are. If we'd got to this point after a sluggish start, there'd be euphoria at being in contention. This way around, it's obviously less enjoyable. But a couple of good wins, particularly with Aston Villa versus Arsenal and Manchester United versus Chelsea on the horizon, and it could yet unfold the Reds' way. And on that note, I'd like to wish you all a merry Christmas and a 'Premiership' New Year.

TOMKINS: THE SELECTION HEADACHE
Paul Tomkins 15 December 2008

It's been a harsh reminder for me, and I'm guessing a fair few other fans, just how little fun competing for the title can actually be.
Every emotion is ramped up to 10. Stress levels have risen, as has the ability for almost anything to irritate me before, during and immediately after a game. And it's only December. Perhaps it's only in the release of tension at finishing top in May, should we be so blessed, that true joy can be derived. Otherwise it's just ten months of slow torture. Never mind the players –– do we have the bottle? I think that as fans we are all clearly feeling the strain a little. We've waited so long to be in with a shout of no.19, we've become achingly desperate. And understandably so. (I take the liberty to break tradition and speak for the masses based purely on observations and conversations; while I accept that we all think, perceive and analyse things very differently, one thing that usually binds us is our emotional response.) I also think we've forgotten how these things work. Indeed, anyone under 30 will have little experience of what's involved. (My maths isn't awry, I just don't think you understand much of what's going on in a title tilt before your teens; I certainly didn't.) There have been quite a few incredible games this season, and the Reds can boast an amazing ability to almost never be beaten; coming back to win lots of games, and drawing the latest pulsating encounter after being 2-0 down. But typically of late, nothing seemed clear: was it one point gained or two dropped? Or, paradoxically, both? This remains a great season as a whole, with some wonderful entertainment and peerless points hauls both domestically and in Europe, but the most recent chunk of it has been more rocky than rosy. The aim has to prove that it's any side's inevitable blip, and not a longer-term trend. It's easy to forget that champions don't have ten months of sensational football. As the great bard observed in 1595, The course of a league title never did run smooth. In many ways Liverpool's league form has been a bit like it was when winning the European Cup in 2005 and the FA Cup a year later: not consistent brilliance, but a number of top-class showings to beat the biggest teams when it mattered, and a remarkable ability to rescue lost causes against opposition of all calibre. We're seeing some of the spirit that somehow helped achieve results against Olympiacos, AC Milan, Luton and West Ham, as well as the ability to beat Manchester United and Chelsea. It's a different competition, with progress marked in other ways and rivals rarely ‘knocked out'/eliminated, but maybe the parallels are apt. It's the first time the Reds have shown such incredible fighting qualities in the first half of a league season for a long, long time. So let's keep that in mind. The first half comeback against Hull involved some sensational play, and with a bit more luck it could have been 5-2 at half-time. And the Reds had started the half the far better side, too, with the visitor's first goal against the run of play, and their second down to a bizarre free-kick award against Carragher. The second half was also dominated by Liverpool, despite Hull yet again excelling on the road, and as such, it's hard to be too critical after dropping two more points. This was a far cry from the Fulham game. Patience seems much thinner on the ground since the winning of an 18th title (in life in general, not just football), and perhaps the squad system has only led to a greater questioning of a manager's methods. By my reckoning almost 20 players had a good claim to start against Hull based on their previous game; but the rules haven't changed that much in the past 18 years. With all this in mind, Rafa's team selection was always going to be called into question. Robbie Keane could well have featured after a fine display in midweek. But the player deployed in his favoured position (just off the main striker) was the man who scored both of the Reds' goals; a player now with eleven for the season. (As an aside, please let's stop counting Gerrard as a midfielder when listing formations when he's in this role; he's an attacking tour de force.) Dirk Kuyt partnered him up front, and he's the team's second-top scorer. He also created both goals. So it's rarely as simple as people like to portray it. Liverpool ‘may' have done better had Keane played. Equally, Gerrard may not have scored two goals had he been deployed further back; it's very unlikely he'd have been quite as advanced towards the six-yard box to poach his two goals like a true centre-forward. I'm a big fan of Robbie Keane, and feel that his time to really shine will come, but it was hardly like his recent form made him a shoo-in for this game. And the more it's made to be about one player, the more I sense the manager will reign it back to being about the team; not to prove a point or to cut off his nose to spite his face, but because obsessing over whether or not one player features can be counterproductive. Some fans might not like it, but Benítez has strong ideas, and this is to be respected; we don't want a weak character swayed by our temperamental and emotional whims, or by price tags, but a man who knows his own mind. Like anyone with an opinion, I don't necessarily agree with all Rafa's line-ups when I see the team-sheet, but then that applies to loads of games that ended up being won. I don't necessarily agree with all his substitutions, either, but often I find myself nodding once the change reaps dividends. At the very least, they tend to have a positive effect on the performance, even if they can't guarantee a positive outcome. Basically, I've learned to reserve judgement. Rafa's record is one of getting things right a lot more than wrong. Some days it won't work, but that applies to any team. (I still see Man United fans moaning about Alex Ferguson's selections and tactics, so no-one is exempt, despite their long-term and recent records.) I also don't share this outdated obsession some fans retain with two out-and-out forwards, or that throwing more strikers on in a game definitely makes it easier to score goals. Benítez went for pace and skill in wide areas from the bench, and I have no problem with that. Changing creative players is hardly a negative move. And Nabil El Zhar almost scored the winner. I recall watching too many games from over the years when, needing a late goal, extra forwards were thrown on by a manager, only for it to blunt the attack; the midfield battle was then lost, and no-one could create anything. Sometimes it might work, particularly if you're just going to pound balls into the box, but it can just as easily confuse you as the opposition. A poor, but not disastrous run of form should not see perspective abandoned en masse. Yes, Liverpool have failed to take advantage of the other big four teams losing or drawing, but equally, the reverse applies. And if all these teams are showing so much greater title-winning form, why isn't it reflected in the league table? The fact remains that Liverpool are on top on merit, albeit by the slenderest of margins. No large gap has been opened up as hoped, but equally, no-one has thus far put in a better claim to be there. In terms of points, Liverpool have effectively lost two of the last three home games: six points dropped. That's a big blow. But of course, there isn't the stinging psychological damage of two defeats, even if the draws have hardly been good for confidence. And at least the latest draw came with some genuine positives. In my quieter, reflective moments I'm no less patient than usual for a 19th title, but I have felt a lot more anxious during recent league games, getting things out of perspective. And I've sensed a lot more tension and angst amongst fans in general. The higher we've soared, the more we've felt our wings start to melt. At times in the last few matches I've almost felt like I did when the Reds played QPR in 1990, when a 2-1 victory after being a goal down secured the 18th league title. I'm having to remind myself that we're not even at the halfway mark, such is the tension. It's almost as if we all, whether optimists or pessimists, have subconsciously felt that the only way to win the league was to get top and open up a big gap, particularly as, on paper, the recent run of games all looked winnable. But it's rarely that simple. As newcomers to the title race, staying top, or pulling clear, was never going to be straightforward for these players; but being there for a few weeks should provide a good education in handling the pressure. It is all an experience to learn from. At the start of the season, Liverpool were outsiders to land the title. Had the bookies known that Fernando Torres would miss most of the first half of the season, the odds would have been far longer. At present Liverpool remain a good bet, and will be an even better one if the Spaniard, whose freshness after a very intense year will no longer be an issue following several enforced rests, plays in the majority of the remaining fixtures. Chelsea have been missing a greater number of players, but Torres' unique talents helps make Liverpool something special. The Reds have won games without him, but the inclusion of his pace, skill and finishing ability obviously makes for a better side. And so, just as beating Olympiacos four years ago this month simply gave the Reds the chance to stay in the hunt on a more-or-less all-square basis at the halfway mark of that tournament, then the same applies to the league table right now as things began to heat up. It remains very much game on, not game over.

STEVIE: WHY CHRISTMAS IS SO CRUCIAL
Kristian Walsh 12 December 2008

Steven Gerrard believes the upcoming Christmas period is the most important for a long time as Liverpool attempt to maintain their lead at the top of the table.
Rafa Benitez's men know they will stand a real chance of fighting for that elusive league title if they can enter the New Year in pole position - something they haven't done for 12 years. Liverpool will bid to maintain - or improve upon - their one point lead over Chelsea against Hull on Saturday before a festive calendar made up of Arsenal (a), Bolton (h) and Newcastle (a). Gerrard admits these fixtures could make or break the season. "We're coming up to Christmas and that's when things really start to take shape," the skipper told the official LFC Magazine. "The festive season might not be as congested as it has been in the past few years in terms of the number of games we're going to play, but the results are more critical this season than they've been for ages – because of where we find ourselves in the league." Liverpool top the table after impressive victories over Manchester United, Chelsea and Everton, although they've struggled with form of late with home draws against West Ham and Fulham. Gerrard is conscious of the team's achievements so far but knows there is plenty of room for improvement. "I don't really think we've played our best football this season," said the 28-year-old. "We might have done it for 45 minutes here and there, but for a full 90 minutes, the closest we've come has been at Stamford Bridge." That victory, courtesy of Xabi Alonso's deflected strike, ended Chelsea's 86-match unbeaten home record and heralded Liverpool's potential to win their first league title in 19 years. "Looking back at the first half of the season, there's a lot for us to be happy with," added Gerrard. "We've put ourselves in a position we haven't been in for a long, long time. But the fact is that the hardest part of the season is still to come. "United are going to get stronger. Arsenal keep proving that they can't be written off. People have done that and they've gone out and beaten United at home and Chelsea away. Chelsea have had a stumble but they'll be back too." Hull visit Anfield on Saturday hoping to emulate West Ham and Fulham's performances, and the Liverpool captain is cautious of the threat these teams pose to their title hopes. He said: "You see from results around the country that everyone can make life tough for teams at the top. It's a cliche, but there aren't any easy games in the Premier League. We're not playing particularly well at the moment, but we know that. No-one's pretending otherwise." Gerrard is hoping the Reds build on back-to-back wins against Blackburn and PSV Eindhoven. "There are 40-odd thousand people at Anfield every other week and about 4,000 people who follow us all over the country and beyond," he said. "They've seen success. We've won everything in my time at Liverpool except for the Premier League. That's the one they want. "It's a burning desire. I know, because I share it. We all do."

TOMKINS: A CAUTIONARY TALE
Paul Tomkins 08 December 2008

In football, it doesn't matter what position in the league you are if you hit that inevitable sticky patch: as a result, confidence can wither away.
It may seem odd to have a confidence crisis when right at the top, but it's rare even for champions to not have at least one dodgy spell in a season when results don't go their way, and the football is less than inspiring. The positive from Liverpool's point of view is that games weren't lost, and another victory has subsequently been banked. I wouldn't go as far as to suggest that the Blackburn result, and the performance of the final 30 minutes, represents a corner turned, but it was encouraging to see the Reds hold on to top spot for another week in the face of pressure and criticism. Confidence really is the most important thing in football, and yet it's the least controllable. It can be affected in positive ways by a manager, but it cannot be conjured when absent or pinned down when present. If one aspect of the performance goes wrong, confidence in that part of a team's game can quickly crumble. And conversely, as we saw with the recent problem with scoring goals, once you get the first, the rest can soon follow with an ease that just wasn't possible minutes earlier. Confidence can change on a moment of genius, or, as we saw at Blackburn, a mis-hit Dirk Kuyt shot that fell to Alonso to trickle a shot over the line. The Reds had experienced another fairly difficult first half at Ewood Park, and while the second 45 wasn't vintage, it was more than good enough. The confidence had returned, and Yossi Benayoun's brilliant match-winning goal came out of a revival in the Reds' belief. The expression 'form is temporary, class is permanent' could almost relate purely to confidence; it is, after all, at the heart of a player's form. Take the example of Alonso. It looked like he might be sold in the summer, after a couple of seasons when, mostly due to injuries, he seemed to have lost his way a little. Then, over the summer, Alonso played an important role for Spain in their remarkable success. As '12th man', he came on in most games to help the eventual winners show their class. Still his future at Liverpool looked uncertain, but at his best he was always one of Rafa's key men, and I found it hard to believe he would leave. Now you could argue that it led to Alonso reaffirming his love of the club, and is playing the best football of his Liverpool career. He is imposing himself on matches once again with his exquisite vision, be it long range passes or the sort of short, simple and sensible kind that keep possession ticking over. He is also getting about the pitch, looking fit and aggressive, and has already scored two vital goals in league victories over Chelsea and Blackburn. As a manager, there's a fine line between the decisions that affect confidence and motivation. If you drop a player, does he lose confidence, compounding the issue? Or does he try harder to get back in the team? Often a manager wants a positive response of one kind or another, and that's another reason why Benitez tries to buy strong characters. It can take time to build confidence at a new club, too. If Robbie Keane is feeling down he need only look at Nicolas Anelka. The Frenchman, after successful stints at four previous Premiership clubs, had a miserable first six months at Chelsea, and missed the penalty that would have won them the Champions League. Hardly the platform to become the following season's star striker. But look at the stats. Not for the first time, I have a couple of issues with the country's highest profile pundits in their assessments of Liverpool, although to their credit, both Alan Hansen and Andy Gray do see the Reds as genuine title challengers. The problems I have are with the smaller details. First, Andy Gray was yet again criticising zonal marking. Four Liverpool players failed to notice a short corner at Ewood Park, so the set-piece defending failed. However, excluding the Carling Cup, Santa Cruz is the first opponent to score against the Reds this season from a corner or free-kick delivered into the box (Jamie Carragher scored the other). That’s 16 league games and seven in Europe. Every system has its flaws, so by all means point them out. But put them in context. Apart from last season, and the first few months of 2004/05, zonal marking has been a brilliant defensive system for Liverpool, as the hugely meaningful stats point out. Every week I see far more goals conceded through poor man-marking. Then there was the issue of the manager's cautiousness. In analysing Benitez's preferred system, Gray kept talking about two holding midfielders. My argument is that this is a case of needlessly negative semantics. For Liverpool, Javier Mascherano is always a holding midfielder. But Xabi Alonso isn't. He is a playmaker with licence to roam. One of the league's best passers, he also gets forward a lot more when paired with the little Argentine. When it's Alonso and Gerrard, then of course the Spaniard will naturally sit deeper. But as we saw at the weekend, Alonso has the freedom to get forward and have attempts at goal when Mascherano is in the side. So it's another 'negative' label on this Liverpool side that doesn't fit. Granted, Alonso won't get ahead of the ball like Frank Lampard, because that's not his game, but equally, he is far from a holding midfielder in this system. He has scored as many goals this season as Claude Makelele managed in almost 400 games for Real Madrid and Chelsea, and both were from open play. I also think it was a touch unfair of Alan Hansen to suggest, even in the guise of observation rather than criticism, that the manager is the most cautious in Liverpool's history. I've been impressed with Hansen's analysis of Liverpool this season, but the focus on caution, to my mind, is wrong. You don&'t get to the top of the table with overly cautious football. As a whole, I honestly don't see Rafa as a cautious coach; I still see him as all about the balance. In a game like Blackburn away, it's easy to think that the Reds can just go there and blitz the opposition, but the home side were always going to come out fighting. I see it as fairly sensible to tactic to start out solid, and gamble more as the game progresses, using the team's extra quality as space opens up. It can go wrong, but so too can overcommitting men early on and paying the price before you've even got a foothold in the game; there's no guarantee either approach will work. So caution could easily be another word for being sensible, only with damaging negative connotations. It's easier to be constantly positive if you are by far the best team in the land; a position Liverpool had got themselves into by the mid-70s, after a decade of improvement under Bill Shankly, and it was a supremacy that lasted another 15 years. You have that in-built confidence as winners. Yes, you become more of a scalp, but your belief as a team should be immense. You've got the medals to prove you can win league titles. What Liverpool now face is far harder. The team still has that expectation that they should be winning things, borne of decades of league titles, but without the platform of years of recent success. Paisley, Fagan, Dalglish and Souness inherited teams full of league winners; Benitez didn't. I think that consistently beautiful football becomes easier when you have that success in the bank, but for now, Liverpool just need to win the league by any means possible. I'd like no.19 to be attained with 100 points and 150 goals, but at this stage in the club's reawakening, but we cannot be too precious about it. The same applies to simply challenging for the title. We can worry about the aesthetics another time, but beggars can't be choosers, and for almost two decades we've been begging just for a shot at the title. Let's also not forget that Liverpool's attacking play has ranged from very good to superb against a number of teams this season, including Chelsea, Manchester United, Everton, Wigan, Manchester City, West Brom, Bolton and, perversely, in the defeat at Spurs. Many of those matches were without the club's best attacking player, Fernando Torres. But it's encouraging that in the number of games when the team hasn't played well, results of one kind or another have been achieved; no bad performance has resulted in a complete lack of points. And that is why the Reds are justifiably top. I honestly don't see the point of Hansen implying that Benitez isn't as positive as Graeme Souness and Roy Evans; surely positivity lies in the outcome, not the means? What's 'positive' about the sloppy defending that let down the mid-90s side, or, in Souness' case, losing far too many games? Evans won 48 per cent of his league matches (excluding his time with Houllier), and Souness won just 41 per cent. By contrast, Benitez has won 56 per cent of his league matches, while his all-competitions record stands at 57 per cent – the same as Bob Paisley's, and better than Bill Shankly's. Does that suggest caution? Liverpool played some beautiful football under Evans, and as a season ticket holder throughout his time in charge, it gave me a lot of pleasure. But what Liverpool lacked was the right balance between defence and attack. Caution in modern football is seen as almost like cheating, or not playing the game in the true spirit. Which is rubbish. Liverpool's European empire was built on hugely cautious displays away from home, with so many backpasses you'd lose count. And rightly so, as it worked. So I'm not arguing that Liverpool are currently an extremely positive attacking side to rival the Brazil of 1970, as that's not the case. What we are seeing is neither caution nor a gung-ho, devil-may-care attitude; it's a successful balance. For me, the manager is 'tactical', not 'cautious'.