Is Champions League qualification achievable?

The dramatic and decisive change in Liverpool supporters’ attitudes and expectations has been a fascinating phenomenon to behold. Following four successive victories and clean sheets many supporters now see a top four finish as a realistic aim when, only a month previously Kopites were bemoaning our dreadful form and worrying about slipping into mid table mediocrity and even possibly a relegation dog fight.

It's simply stunning how a change in manager has resulted in such an emphatic end to the negativity surrounding Anfield and has led to an almost completely different view of the club's short and long-term future. Barring a few new signings and a couple of departures it is essentially the same squad that Roy Hodgson had at his disposal, however Dalglish has rapidly reversed our fortunes, restored confidence to our squad and instilled vital hope and belief in both the players and the supporters once again.

The fact that he has done so in such a short space of time compounds both Hodgson's argument that he needed more time to implement his style of play and revive our ailing fortunes, and his view that our squad wasn't strong enough to compete above mid-table level.

Also, with the Reds sitting in sixth place, only half a dozen points behind Tottenham and Chelsea, some supporters believe that Champions League qualification is a realistic and achievable aim for the remaining fourth months of the current campaign.

With a strong defensive basis restored under Kenny Dalglish and Steve Clarke Liverpool have finally stopped shipping goals as often, and a platform for collecting points has been crucially established. Our midfield now boasts the in form Raul Meireles breaking forward to score goals and supply assists, as well as the calming presence of Lucas Leiva patrolling the pitch and spraying passes and the imperious Steven Gerrard, who must be one of the best all round midfielders the club has ever seen.

Critically, the Reds now have an exciting forward partnership of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll ready to fire us up the table and, although the departure of Fernando Torres weakens our attack, the potential of these two new arrivals compensates for the loss of the Spaniard.

However, while I fully appreciate the 'Dalglish effect' and the recent reversal in our fortunes, I still see us as outsiders for a top four finish because of our frankly abysmal start to the season and the relative weakness of our squad compared to our rivals.

Our shameful and humiliating opening to the campaign is a disturbing and unwelcome memory after a period of stability and improvement under new temporary manager Kenny Dalglish, however it cannot be ignored when considering our prospects for the rest of the campaign. Such a terrible beginning to the season left us floundering in mid table with a mid table manager with mid table expectations certainly not helping our cause and, although Kenny has returned us to where our current squad should be, I cannot see us improving on a sixth placed finish.

Our first eleven contains some very talented individuals, including the likes of Reina, Carragher, Meireles, Gerrard and Suarez, and a cohesive, confident unit has been created following the appointment of Dalglish. Nevertheless, we still lack width in midfield and depth on the subs' bench. Whilst Chelsea and Tottenham can call upon internationals such as Ramires, Malouda, Pavlyuchenko and Kranjcar to come off the bench and help them to secure points, Liverpool have to settle for free or cheap signings and youngsters such as Milan Jovanovic and Jonjo Shelvey to provide cover for injured or underperforming first team stars.

Moreover, our lack of width and failure to secure another left back mean that consolidating our current position of sixth in the table should be our aim for the rest of the season. With fixtures against both Manchester clubs as well Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur to come our light squad will be tested to its limits, and as a result making up the six point difference between us and the top four appears slightly unrealistic.

Instead, our focus should be on taking one game at a time and qualification for next season's Europa League will probably result. However, the mere fact that the possibility of qualifying for the Champions League is being discussed indicates the amazing impact the arrival of Kenny Dalglish has had.

The King is making us dream again!

YNWA