Liverpool are returning to form, says Rodgers

Sterling was again one of the stars as Liverpool ground out a well-deserved draw at home to Arsenal

After the mid-week game against Bournemouth showed a much-improved attacking performance from his side, the 2-2 draw with Arsenal today showed that Liverpool are starting to rediscover their ability to score late on and a much steelier resolve than they had shown all season.

Speaking following the match, Rodgers said “I thought our performance today was outstanding. We’re starting to see that passing, the intensity and, importantly for us, the pressing in our game is starting to return.

“We’re disappointed with the goals that we have conceded, especially at the end of the first half. But the character and the quality of the team today was very good. We played better and dominated more than we did last year, when we won 5-1.

“Clearly it shows we’re returning to somewhere near how we’ve worked for the two-and-a-half years I’ve been here. We always respect them and their game. They have got some outstanding players.

“But you saw today that when we play our game and get back to that level of pressing, we’re a difficult team to play against. Hopefully, moving forward, the last week’s games and performance levels will hopefully bring us to what we’ve been since I’ve been here – where we get stronger in the second part of the season.”

With Arsenal recording just 36% of the possession and scoring with their only 2 chances on goal, there is both a positive and a negative spin you can put on the result but the Liverpool boss is keen to look only at the positives, namely that Liverpool may have turned a corner, just in time for the particularly tricky Christmas period.

He continued “It was always going to be a big challenge. We’ve got to make up points – we’ve got to make that up over the next part of the season.

“But we have showed that this is a group that can go on a run of games. In the second half of last season, we went on a run of 11 games [won]. If we can put a run of games together, that can very quickly move you up.

“You saw today that the most important thing was the confidence and ability in the team returning. Align that with the pressure and intensity they bring to the game.

“You bring Sturridge back into that, hopefully in the New Year, in January, and then you get back to being the team that we have been in the last few years. There’s work to do but at least we’re moving in the right direction again – which is what we want.”

Have Liverpool truly turned a corner, or is it yet another false dawn, with Skrtel’s late goal simply papering over gaping cracks in both defence and attack for Liverpool? Let us know your thoughts.