Confidence is such a fickle thing. Although it wasn’t the only thing wrong at Liverpool in the past few months, it was certainly a very important factor in the reasons for both Liverpool’s flirtation with the relegation places back at the start of the season and the Reds’ four match winning streak without conceding a goal currently. The funniest thing I heard came from Paul Merson on Soccer Saturday (who had previously stated a few months ago that the Reds squad needed a radical overhaul) saying that the Reds may only need a winger or two in the summer now to compete for the Premier League title next season.

This is not to have a go at Merson per se, after all many others, including Robbie Fowler, had stated they had seen better teams than Liverpool relegated from the Premier League. So how have these relegation battlers suddenly turned themselves into top four contenders? A phrase rival manager Carlo Ancelotti uttered after the match against Liverpool yesterday to describe the Reds.

Two fundamental changes have come about since the appointment of Kenny Dalglish, one is tactical (which I will talk about in regards to Steve Clarke in another article) and the other is mental. As I said at the outset of my piece, confidence does have the capacity to change a team seemingly down and out into world beaters. King Kenny seemingly has the knack to get the best out of his players not necessarily through being a “tactical genius” but rather by “getting into the heads of the players.” Alan Shearer, who played under Dalglish at Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle, has said Kenny had the uncanny ability of getting inside players head’s and motivating them accordingly. The Newcastle legend stated he was the best man manager he had ever come across.