Reds rescue mission may have come too late

I was at Anfield on Sunday to witness the reds maul Steve Bruce’s Sunderland side and at times the football was simply breathtaking.  Rafa’s men could and possibly should have produced a cricket score, but it makes me wonder whether the sort of performance produced yesterday has come just too late in the day.

Fernando Torres should have had a half-time hat-trick as should Daniel Agger, the Dane producing a tireless display which saw him squander three golden chances in the first half.  With Manchester City and Aston Villa both dropping points in the past four days it would appear as though it’s been the perfect week for Benitez and Liverpool but the gap with Tottenham still remains four points who themselves still have a game in hand.

Inconsistency has certainly been a huge problem for Rafa’s men this campaign with the reds coming off the back off huge victories over Manchester United, Everton and Tottenham with poor results the following weekend.

Torres himself has admitted that his team will have to win all six of their remaining games if Liverpool are to achieve fourth-place but with the reds winning just five premier league games back-to-back throughout the course of the entire season, the aim of winning the final six games appears easier said than done.

The good news for Rafa is that it appears as though Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are back to their best form with the Spaniard scoring two sensational goals; the first of his brace will be remembered for many years to come.

Liverpool have tricky games away to Birmingham, Burnley and Hull still to come but Rafa’s instinct in these sort of games has been to play two holding midfielders leading to a cautious and suffocating approach but yesterday’s terrific master-class will hopefully sway the manager’s way of thinking in the final handful of matches.

It’s going to go down to the wire but if Liverpool do not get fourth place they will have only themselves to blame.