Liverpool topped the Premier League with a 4-0 win over Tottenham at Anfield at the weekend. The Reds, who haven't won England's top division since 1990, now hold their destiny with six more wins delivering the title to Anfield.
Liverpool sit on 71 points with the aforementioned six games to play. The Reds boasted only 61 points the entirety of last season, a season that saw them finish seventh. Liverpool have only drawn and lost once a piece at Anfield, winning the other 14 this season, compared to six draws and four losses at home last season. Liverpool scoring more goals at Anfield already this term compared to last and Anfield regaining a potent atmosphere is more than noticed by Brendan Rodgers.
"It's a swing in mentality. When you have a home ground like Anfield, and you've got the army of supporters that we have, you've got to really own the field. This is our pitch, our supporters, our ground, so our mentality is to own it," Rodgers said to the club's official website.
"We've got an aggressive mentality at home, to win, to score goals and equally to defend," he added. "You put those things together, along with the supporters - who were immense [on Sunday], arguably the best atmosphere I've felt at Anfield - and it's a really strong force that you have. It's great oxygen for us, as a team and management."
"It's great that the supporters have got that belief. That's so important for them, it's vital that they feel they can dream," he said. "For us, our focus and composure and mentality is just to work hard, because there's a process to dreaming. You've got to get the work done, or else it doesn't happen. We just narrow our focus onto each game. It's brilliant for the supporters to come to Anfield now to see their team win and see their team play dominating football."
Rodgers added the their run has allowed fans to dream and added that folk might not have predicted Liverpool to be where they are at this point in the season, but that is all down to hard work within the master plan.
“I just feel a huge privilege to be here and be given the freedom to work,” Rodgers said. "We're trying to make something that's sustainable here, not just for this season. We're trying to grow and develop this club. It's fantastic the supporters now have hope because there are only six games to go."
“I don't think anybody expected us to be where we are. The last few seasons we have been eighth and we finished seventh last year. We go into every game to win and I expect it. What's been great to see is that idea and methodology of our work bearing fruit in the game," he added. “There are still some great teams up there and some world-class managers. We understand it's going to be very difficult, but we just control what we can do -- and if we can do that, we'll just see where it takes us.”
Liverpool travel to West Ham at the weekend as Manchester City host Southampton. Critical matches for two sides aiming for the title, but both might be looking to when the two sides meet the following weekend at Anfield in a match that may well decide the fate of the league title.
Read more at http://swol.co/liverpool-manager-brendan-rodgers-claims-anfield-the-difference/33727?#UuFBf78DKmK0P70r.99