Source: Liverpool_Echo
I can make a difference says Alberto Aquilani: Liverpool FC latest
i can make a difference[LNB]DURING conversations he has had with family and friends back home recently, it would be no surprise if Alberto Aquilani has, at some point, uttered the following words: 'Non era come è stato pubblicizzato nella brochure'.[LNB]Roughly translated, that is the Italian for 'it's not what was advertised in the brochure' - Aquilani may have felt all his dreams were coming true when he moved to Liverpool in the summer but the reality has proved crushingly different.[LNB]Sidelined for much of the time since he left his life in Rome behind for a new challenge on the banks of the Mersey, any pains Aquilani has felt in his damaged ankle have been exacerbated by Liverpool's mounting woes on the pitch.[LNB]When he put pen to paper on a five-year deal, Aquilani envisaged playing in a side that would battle for Premier League supremacy and one which had designs on contesting the first Saturday night Champions League final.[LNB]As it stands, however, Liverpool's only realistic hopes of putting silverware on the table will come via the FA Cup and Europa League, while the ceiling of their ambitions domestically revolve around getting back into the top four.[LNB]It is, of course, a far cry from the picture that was painted to Aquilani but do not take this as a signal he is yearning for a return to Rome; if anything, the 25-year-old had reason to be over the moon when he left Anfield on Wednesday evening.[LNB]True, Fiorentina's last-gasp winner might have tempered his feelings slightly but there was no disguising the relief Aquilani felt after starting in a Red shirt for the first time - finally his Liverpool career is upwardly mobile.[LNB]'It is a difficult time for me to come into the team, because we are in a difficult place at the moment,' he said. 'That makes it harder for any player to start with a new side. But I am here at Liverpool to make a difference, to help the team out of that difficult time.[LNB]'It's not the season I was expecting when I signed for the club, that's true. I was expecting to play in the Champions League, to find ourselves competing for trophies. But it is a long season and the finish of it is a long way away.[LNB]'There is still time for that to change. I have seen plenty of reasons while I have been here to be positive about where the team is going, both against Florence and in training. We have a lot of things to improve on, but we also have the ability we need to get better.[LNB]'I am certain we will get better. With the players we have available to us, we can only get better. I don't have any doubts about that at all. I feel good. I'm really happy to have come through my first game.'[LNB]And he provided plenty of reasons for optimism; what impressed most about his efforts was every time he was given possession, Aquilani immediately turned and looked to go forward or usher the ball quickly to a team-mate further up the field.[LNB]Speed in their play and quick thinking are elements that have been sorely missed in recent months and it is difficult not to get excited about the prospect of him, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres forming an attacking triumvirate.[LNB]First things first, however, Aquilani - as elegant off the field as he is on it (he sports a Chanel jewel in his right ear) - just wants to improve his condition but, equally, he is eager to build relations with Liverpool's talismanic skipper and their goalscorer supreme.
