“Game over,” shouted the majority, even though Liverpool finished the weekend a point closer to Premier League favourites Manchester United, and only five points behind them, assuming we win our game in hand.

Five points behind the favourites and yet already written off with 20 games to go? Mmmm, interesting! Look objectively at where Liverpool are at the moment.

They have the best squad in two decades and the best central midfield in the league – Steven Gerrard, England’s talisman and Liverpool’s heartbeat, Xabi Alonso, the Spanish pass master, and Javier Mascherano, the 22-year-old veteran and arguably the best holding midfielder in modern football. That's not including Lucas Leiva, the Brazil under-21 captain.

‘If the result at Anfield against United had been 1-0 rather than 0-1 (and let’s face it, it could easily have been), they would be sitting two points behind them with a game in hand’


They have also had the best defence over the past three seasons, including this one. They have the best away record in the Premier League and are scoring goals at the rate of  clubs above us for the first time in Rafa Benitez’s tenure.. On Sunday they totally outplayed Manchester City, the team with the best home record in England, who had taken 28 of 30 points prior to the game. They gained a point there (and deserved more) while Manchester United walked away empty-handed from West Ham on Saturday.

Let’s also not forget just how close they are to the current league favourites, United. If the result at Anfield against them had been 1-0 rather than 0-1 (and let’s face it, it could easily have been), they would be sitting two points behind them with a game in hand. When was the last time they were this close to the leaders at this stage of the season? But leagues are not won on ifs and buts! Liverpool fans are as critical as any, but they are brought up on high standards and know their football.

All this makes it more frustrating to be a Liverpool fan than a fan of any other team – we've seen genuine improvement but there is still a disappointing gap to the top. Liverpool’s lagging behind the leaders is as much to do with their missed opportunities and their own failings than the excellence of the teams above them. The City draw, while a good result, was discounted because United had lost and it was perceived that Liverpool had missed the boat. A point still wasn't good enough for the critics. All this while the leaders were no longer United, but Arsenal.

Can the squad be improved? Of course it can! But whose can’t? Would you be happy with O’Shea, Carrick, Eagles, Fletcher or even Hargreaves? Would you prefer Wes Brown to Finnan, Arbeloa or Aurelio? Not me. So yes, of course we still need new players. Fernando Torres, Ryan Babel, Yossi Benayoun, Mascherano and Daniel Agger have all been great successes. On the other hand, it’s not looking like Dirk Kuyt or Andriy Voronin have what it takes at this level. John Arne Riise also seems to become more one-dimensional and limited as the seasons go by. But Benitez has never been shy about shipping out players, unlike previous Liverpool managers.

But Rafa’s only into his 4th year, and if this is the quality of player we are now concerned about it bodes well… Consider their talent versus Biscan, Cheyrou, Le Tallec, Diao and Diouf! Liverpool have come a long way, but maybe not far enough – Rome was not built in a day.

The current Man United squad has gelled during the period when they were in Arsenal's and Chelsea’s shadow. They are reaping the benefit now, but were not criticised much in the process. Arsenal, likewise, had a barren spell and in that time gathered some of the world's top young players and gave them time on the pitch. Liverpool are not afforded such patience, with the burden of history ticking loud and clear.

Another central defender, Gabriel Heinze, would be a headline signing. Another class attacker and just one winger with end product would see our squad in fabulous shape. Blackburn's David Bentley is a player I would love to see down the right flank. I actually see Babel as a striker next to Torres in the long term. Imagine the movement, speed and finishing prowess they would give us for years to come. For me the wide areas still lack class

Another key to ongoing success is the small issue of keeping Mascherano at the club. The player is brilliant and he’s outdone Dietmar Hamann in that role. He's as tough as Didi but more progressive. His tackling, reading of the game and tactical know-how is second to none. While he’ll never be a consistent goal-scorer for us, he’ll allow each of the other three midfielders to take on that challenge while he prowls in front of the back four and breaks up opposition attacks.

Rotation, rotaton. Liverpool fans still debate it, and it seems you’re in one camp or the other. Well, Rafa still does it, but with far less disruption than before, in my view. We now – for the first time under Rafa – have a ‘preferred’ first XI, i.e. we have had the same strike force (Torres, Kuyt) midfield (Kewell, Masch, Gerrard, Benayoun) and defence (Riise, Hyypia, Carra, Finnan) and, of course Pepe in goal, for most ‘big’ games lately.

It’s been as consistent a line-up as I can remember, but even when rotation does happen, it’s like for like, with Alvaro Arbeloa replacing Steve Finnan, Fabio Aurelio replacing Riise, Alonso in for Masch, Voronin for Kuyt etc. We’ve kept 4-4-2 as our base AND we’ve kept the spine of Pepe, Carra, Gerrard and Torres in virtually every game. I know that the return of Agger and Alonso and even Jermaine Pennant will play into Rafa’s thinking and arguably improve the team, but again, if we only rotate like for like, quality for quality, then I think we’ll be just fine – rotation or not.

So, rather than being despondent about the result at City, I for one am rather chuffed with my club right now. Yeah, of course I’d like us to be a few points closer to the top, and yeah, I wish we had another £20million striker on our books, (Berbatov maybe or Anelka?) but given where we were pre-Rafa, I’ll take it!

We can get the ball rolling on out title assault by steam-rollering a Wigan side without an away win this season. With Wigan, Villa and Sunderland as our next three home games, sandwiched with Boro and West Ham away, we have a great opportunity to get a lot of points on the board. Quite simply, we have to aim for 15 out of 15. If we can, who knows just how far this Liverpool squad – with one or two additions in January – can go this season.

So here’s to a fantastic New Year to ALL Liverpool and football fans alike.