Source: Liverpool_Echo
TOMMY SMITH: It’s a Happy New Year after all for Liverpool FC now!
THAT was a great way to end the year after all the disappointments of recent weeks.[LNB]Fernando Torres' late strike sent Liverpool fans into raptures and ensured we enter New Year with big smiles.[LNB]Torres is a truly great striker and becoming the fastest Liverpool player to hit 50 goals is testament to that. It's even more remarkable given the games he has missed through injury.[LNB]I've said it before but yet again the way he just pops up from nowhere so reminds me of Roger Hunt. And I can't pay the lad a bigger compliment than that.[LNB]But all the players deserve credit for following up the win over Wolves with another at Villa Park.[LNB]The team has been struggling so much for form and energy but the pressure was really on them on Tuesday - and they responded magnificently.[LNB]Some people have said Villa deserved to win, not us. OK, they had a few chances with which they could have punished us, but in terms of possession and control we were easily the better side.[LNB]After all their woes with injuries this season, Torres and Steven Gerrard have now come up with two terrific and important goals for us. The addition of Aquilani cannot be overlooked either. I was worried an Italian might be a bit negative in terms of approach but the signs are encouraging. He's looked really bright and wants to get the ball down and pass it forward quickly. Hopefully he'll go on to be a huge hit now.[LNB]We must now use these victories as a springboard to leap up the table. It's Spurs next at Anfield in the league and we owe them.[LNB]So let's turn them over too when the time comes and then we can finally begin to believe - as we should - that a top four finish is well within our own grasp again.[LNB]It definitely is.
