A 6-1 smashing in the bag, now on to bigger and better things.

In a week when it was inconveniently revealed that Liverpool's board are planning to limit spending on both transfers and new player contracts to £20m annually for the next 5 years, George Gillett - reportedly in attendance at Anfield today - will have welcomed the distraction of Liverpool's 6-1 demolition of Hull. I'm not of course suggesting that he has any particular emotional investment in the team's results, but he will surely be relieved that tomorrow's column inches will be filled with talk of Torres and Gerrard rather than spending caps and stadium delays.

But while those who wish to create a feel-good factor around Anfield will busily point to Liverpool's improving league position and the lucrative new sponsorship deal with Standard Chartered to suggest that matters both on and off the field are being handled properly, I'm still not convinced.

Last season, only 7 teams in the Premier League conceded more goals per game than Liverpool have done so far this season, and the fact that Rafa Benitez was forced to speak out in defence of Jamie Carragher this week only serves to highlight how far below his usually impeccable best the Liverpool vice-captain has fallen recently. In today's post-Perez/Mansour market, if this week's reports are to be believed, a new first-choice centre-back would probably swallow Benitez's entire transfer budget.

But as well as pointing the finger at poor old Carra, it has also been suggested that Liverpool's problems at set-pieces are not the result of poor defending, but poor play in midfield leading to more free-kicks being conceded in dangerous positions this season. I think this is an interesting suggestion, although rightly or wrongly it's surely bound to encourage the Lucas-bashers out for a fresh round of slating.

Personally, I'm hoping our defensive frailties are just a by-product of some early season settling. But unless the the problem is solved, Liverpool will have no chance of winning the title (at least not unless Fernando Torres scores 50 goals this season, which might be possible on today's evidence).

In the meantime, it's great to rattle six goals past any team managed by Phil Brown, and the result is the perfect preparation for two tough fixtures next week.

Firstly, although failure to qualify for the Champions League knock-out stage would take a monumentally bad set of results in Europe over the next couple of months, the pressure is on at this stage to secure qualification as quickly as possible. As has been pointed out here on Banter recently, Liverpool's squad lacks the depth of our rivals', so the sooner we can start using fringe players in Europe to keep our key players fir for the league, the better. Therefore, although it will be no easy feat, a win in Florence this week becomes crucial.

Then there is the small matter of a trip to Stamford Bridge next weekend. Wigan did the league a favour in showing today that Chelsea are susceptible to a well-organised pressing approach (a Rafa Benitez speciality). But although another 3 points for Liverpool would see us overtake Ancelotti's expensively assembled side, Chelsea will certainly pose a threat from set-pieces. In turn we can expect their defenders to give our forwards much less space than those of Hull, West Ham and Burnley have in recent weeks.

It's a massive week for Liverpool, so here's hoping today's result will give us the confidence to shake off our early bad habits and take the season by the scruff of the neck.