Gerrard insists cup is half full

Andy Carroll’s winner at Wembley has given Liverpool fans a welcome but nevertheless thought-provoking dilemma: is their season now to be described as a success or a failure?

Just a few weeks ago, as Dalglish’s side slumped to a 2-0 reverse at Newcastle, there were murmurs, however muffled, that King Kenny himself was under pressure after six defeats in seven Premier League games that left his team eighth in the table and 16 points adrift of the top four; a scenario that must have seemed almost surreal to the Scotsman given his level of success at Anfield in previous spells as both player and manager.

Carroll looked increasingly lost, unbearably burdened by his transfer fee, and the Anfield board — despite a public ‘vote of confidence’ in their manager — appeared increasingly edgy.

Now, however, after

revitalised Carroll’s 87th-minute header beat Merseyside rivals Everton 2-1, the cracks have been papered over; and they could yet be decorated with ribbons.

Not since 2001 have Liverpool ended a season with more than one domestic trophy to show for their efforts, but having already lifted the Carling Cup in February there is a distinct possibility it could happen again this year.

Dalglish can be buoyed, too, by the late-maturing partnership of Carroll and Luis Suarez — especially as the former Newcastle man also scored the winner in a Premier League victory at Blackburn in midweek while it was Suarez who equalised Nikica Jelavic’s opener to set up Liverpool’s victory at Wembley on Saturday.

But as captain Steven Gerrard admits, the conundrum of Liverpool’s poor league form — especially at Anfield — is impossible to ignore even in the excitement of a derby victory that will go down in history as yet another memorable triumph for the red side of Merseyside.

“The season has been up and down,” he agreed. “I think the proof is out there about where this team is. I think we’ve proved we’re a very good cup team. But there’s still a very big challenge for us in the league. The league position isn’t good enough. I believe we’ve got the players in this squad to be able to improve things next year and I think we’re in a false position in the league. I think we’re better than where we are.

“We’ve proved on our day we can beat anyone. We’ve beaten top teams on our day — United, Chelsea, City and now Everton at Wembley. But as a squad we need to be better in the league and we as players need to take responsibility for the league position.”

Even at Wembley the frustrating Jekyll and Hyde nature of Liverpool was on show in a match in which they were woeful in the first half — giving the ball away with alarming regularity — but vibrant when it really mattered in the second.

The embarrassing way in which Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger dithered in the penalty area to help Everton take the lead was excruciating — Carragher eventually cannoning a belated clearance straight against Tim Cahill and into the path of an elated and grateful Jelavic. But equally the list of chances created in the second half, especially when Craig Bellamy added his pace and energy to the mix, highlighted the flip side.

Carroll could, and should, have put Liverpool ahead from a delicious Stewart Downing cross early in the second half and had two more opportunities to start paying off his transfer fee before eventually back-heading Bellamy’s 87th minute free-kick into the net to earn himself the headlines.

By that time Everton had gifted their rivals an equaliser after Sylvain Distin’s desperately short back-pass was pounced upon by Suarez and punished with an impudent finish that seemed to destroy the confidence of David Moyes’ side and leave them strangely subdued for the remainder of the match, which saw Liverpool grow in stature until securing an inevitable winner.

So now the challenge for Dalglish’s men is to capitalise on this victory; not only when they return to Wembley in May but also in the remaining Premier League matches that can at least set the tone for next season and provide hope that a corner really has been turned.

Interestingly, Gerrard admits complacency set in after the Carling Cup victory in February, when fans were expecting a golden run, saying: “The proof is there. We won the Carling Cup and we should have gone on and moved up the league and put up a real fight to get in that top four. And it never happened.”

But it cannot be ignored that ending the campaign with two trophies would be a springboard that should help Dalglish continue his revolution next season and one that indicates not everything is going wrong at Anfield.

“At the beginning of the season the target was top four and the two cups,” said Gerrard. “And two out of three wouldn’t be bad.”

That presumably answers the question we started with; but Gerrard looked a little uncomfortable, embarrassed even, as he did so.

Despite battling against rich Sheikhs, billionaire Russians and the brick wall that is Manchester United, the definition of success at Anfield almost certainly comes with an asterisk.