Rodgers: Wait until we really hit form
Wait until we really hit form – that was the message from Reds boss Brendan Rodgers after his team claimed back-to-back league victories for the first time this season and climbed into the top half.
A stirring second-half comeback saw Liverpool triumph 3-2 over West Ham at Upton Park, with early substitute Joe Cole and an own goal filling the absence of suspended striker Luis Suarez.
The Northern Irishman was particularly pleased with the determination his whole team showed on Sunday and warned that there's more to come in the second half of the campaign.
"For us there was no drama. My focus since I came here has been about the collective. We all share the ball so we must share the goals, we must share the workload," Rodgers explained.
"We're not asking anyone to do any more than anyone else and I had great belief in the players that we could score and create goals tonight.
"We have done it all season but just not been clinical enough at times. I think you saw today the quality in the team and equally the fight in the team and that was very pleasing.
"We're just trying to build momentum. We had a difficult opening fixture list and when you couple that with trying to play a certain way of football, it was always going to be difficult.
"But certainly over the last few weeks we have progressed - let's just see how we finish. This is one of the biggest clubs in world football and everyone knows where it should be.
"We're making steady progress in climbing the league and that's important for us. It's a very tight league this season. We've supposedly had an unbelievably bad season up until now, so once we really hit form we'll be alright."
The Hammers began the day three points ahead of their opponents and buoyed by a 3-1 victory over Chelsea last weekend - facts that made the Reds' win all the more impressive to the manager.
He continued: "It's a brilliant win for us. Sam's done a terrific job here and in particular this year. He has made it very difficult for teams to come here to Upton Park, as we saw with Chelsea last week.
"My players were brilliant; they have been through a lot this week in terms of travel. I thought we thoroughly deserved the win in the end and I'm delighted for the players because they put so much into the game.
"The first 25 minutes, we were outstanding, some of our play was great and it was capped off with a great goal by Glen Johnson. The penalty knocked us back a bit, probably because we felt it was a wee bit unjust.
"And then all of a sudden, for the last 30 minutes of the first half, we stopped playing. Half-time was just about reinforcing to the players that we had to keep playing.
"We had to keep the tempo, keep moving, keep passing and the opportunities would come for us and in the second half we did that. We showed terrific spirit and that bit of steel to get the win."
Jonjo Shelvey was asked to spearhead the Liverpool attack with Suarez unavailable and although he will struggle to claim the winning goal, Rodgers was delighted with the 20-year-old's contribution.
"Young Jonjo Shelvey, at 20 years of age, played the No.9 role in a very different way - dropping into midfield and combining with the midfield players to make it four men in the middle.
"He made himself a threat in the box and I thought the kid was outstanding today. There was a lot of pressure on him because people were trying to compare him to Luis Suarez.
"But he's been terrific during my time here and he's only 20. So he's got a big future ahead of him."
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On the other hand, nobody can argue with Cole's equalising strike - which concluded the sweetest passing move of the match for the Reds and drew plaudits from the boss.
He added: "I thought Joe's goal was a terrific goal. It involved two wingers combining to create the goal and the other one breaking the line and making a great move and then it was a wonderful finish.
"He has had to wait for that split second to get it on his left foot and I was pleased for Joe because it took him a bit of time to get into the game.
"In the second half, he was good for the team - pressing, working and then after that, his quality came through and it was a great goal.
One blip on an otherwise positive day for the Reds was an early injury to Jose Enrique, who was withdrawn in the first half as a precaution after feeling slight tightness.
"He was just a wee bit tight. He's just come back into the team and played during the week against Udinese," Rodgers expanded.
"And given all the travel, he was very stiff yesterday but we gave him a go and he just couldn't quite move the same.
"Stewart Downing had started well with Glen Johnson on the side, so he was probably a bit disappointed to be pushed across but I thought he was terrific and stood up to the challenge well. I was very pleased for him."