Liverpool are starting to believe they can do it

By Ian Rush on Sep 16, 08 11:59 AM in Columnists

ANY Premier League victory over Manchester United is worth more than just three points.

But Saturday's success could prove especially significant.

For possibly the first time under Rafael Benitez, you could sense a group of players really believing in themselves.

They've done it in one-off cup ties many times, of course.


But in the bread and butter of the league, games against the big four have been barren ground.

On Saturday there was a change of mindset, and for that to happen with the two most inspirational figures sitting in the substitutes' dug-out points to a real change of emphasis.

The Reds players can start believing now.

That's how important Saturday's win was, and how crucial the next little group of games has become.

Even though it's very early in the season, champions Manchester United are already playing catch-up and we can really turn the psychological screw in the next fortnight.

The league games which are next up are both very different, and very challenging, in their own right.

Stoke will pose a unique and testing challenge at Anfield next Saturday, especially following an away game in Europe, then there's a Merseyside derby match at Goodison which speaks for itself.

If we can come through those games with six points perhaps the fans can start to believe in a real title challenge as well.

For 20 minutes on Saturday, however, we were all sat there thinking 'What's going on?'

United were leading, we weren't playing well and the whole situation looked grim.

But then it was as if the players realised they were in danger of being embarrassed in front of their own fans and suddenly woke up.

We dug in, we wanted to win it more than United and in the end 2-1 flattered them.

There were a number of impressive performances, but none more so than Javier Mascherano.

It was almost as if he felt he had a point to prove after his sending-off at Old Trafford last season.

He took the game by the scruff of the neck and drove the Reds on with a display of real leadership.

With Steven Gerrard unavailable, he realised somebody had to step up to the plate and he did just that.

I've often said that we rely far too heavily on Stevie and Fernando Torres.

Well that wasn't the case on Saturday which augurs very well for the season ahead.

It's still only mid-September. This time last year we'd just drawn at Portsmouth after three successive wins over Sunderland, Toulouse and Derby.

But there definitely seems to be a change of mood amongst the players. It's amazing what a win over Manchester United can do . . .

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