Murphy enjoying purple patch

Danny Murphy insisted he is now in the form of his life as Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier revealed that he once almost sold the midfield star in exasperation.

Murphy will play a key role in maintaining Liverpool’s Champions League dreams when Spartak Moscow visit Anfield, with the knowledge that he now has the full confidence of his managers at club and international level.

There will be another chance against the Russian champions to further underline his qualities, with Houllier saying: “This is not a must-win game, but a will-win game.”

If Liverpool do not win this vital Group B crunch they can surely start planning for a quick return to the UEFA Cup.

Murphy is convinced that such an option is far from Liverpool’s minds despite only picking up one point from their first two Champions League games.

His own excellent form should ensure a place in England’s squad to face Slovakia and Macedonia in the opening Euro 2004 qualifiers later this month, and Murphy said: “Yes, I feel I am in the form of my career, and I am making progress as a player, but that has to be maintained over a long period.

“It’s no use doing it for 10 games and then tailing off, I must maintain it over a lengthy period.

“Of course I want to play for England, but you find that if you play well for your club, get into that team on a regular basis, the rest follows on from there.”

Murphy has come a long way from the point in 1999 when he was almost shipped out of Anfield by Houllier.

The Liverpool boss claims: “When Danny started to really focus on his job I knew he would be a great player for Liverpool.

“But in the summer of 1999 we almost let him go, we advertised him around but there were no takers.

“He went on loan to Crewe, and I’m grateful to their manager Dario Gradi that he made him aware that he was going the wrong way, and once he started to approach the game in the right way, then he would become a player.

“If you are not 100% focused, if your time and energy is not totally devoted to football at some stage you will pay and not be able to deliver.”

He added: “But Dario convinced him of what the right way was. When Danny came back to us he wanted to play every game, I told him he couldn’t always do that.

“So we tried to advertise for him to go somewhere, but there were no takers. I decided then that we would keep him and I would talk to him. I talked to him and maybe he realised what the right way was.

“He was not helping himself, and once he decided to go the right way I gave him his chance and ever since he has improved and progressed.

“But in no case now would I accept a club coming and saying they wanted to buy him, he’s a Liverpool boy and a Liverpool player.”

Houllier knows now that he’s got a £10m (€16m) player on his hands, rather than one who was going off the rails.

The Anfield chief said: “He scored a lot of goals in our treble season, plenty of assists and he has been improving as an all-round modern player.

“He can compete with everybody, despite his size, even in the air. He has improved his challenging and work.

“Once he decided he wanted to do the job I knew he would be a great asset to the club and he is now on the brink of consistent international recognition.

“He would have already been at that stage if he hadn’t got injured before the World Cup.”

Murphy was forced to pull out of the squad for the Far East through injury, but his form this season has been the best of his life.

He said: “It wasn’t easy to miss the World Cup with injury, but it did give me a rest and a chance to return this season fresh.

“I worked really hard during the pre-season and it is now paying off, and now I need to make sure I maintain this form.”