SOCCER: Sunderland 0, Liverpool 2If, as Rafael Benitez has often stated, it is "small details" that have prevented Liverpool laying serious claim to the Premier League title then the subtle changes of this season suggest lessons have been learned at Anfield.
There was no crowing about title challenges after Liverpool maintained an encouraging rather than exuberant start to the campaign at the Stadium of Light. The talk, as it has been all summer, was of potential not confirmed promise, small steps rather than the bold leaps that have lacked foundation in the recent past. That should continue.
There has been a welcome role reversal in the performances of the manager and his team too. While it is now Benitez who appears increasingly agitated and willing to speak his mind, railing against the Premier League and their alleged bias towards Manchester United last week, haranguing the assistant referee here from the moment Sami Hyypia suffered a broken nose against the elbow of Daryl Murphy in the fourth minute, even arguing with Jamie Carragher as the mainstay of his defence departed with a broken rib, it is his Liverpool team who have taken to progressing with a minimum of fuss.
No Steven Gerrard, no problem. At long last, as replacement Mohamed Sissoko stepped forth with his first goal for the club in 75 appearances and Liverpool's 7,000th in league football to beat Craig Gordon from distance before the break. No Peter Crouch among the substitutes, a further worry for last season's leading goalscorer at Anfield, yet an indication Benitez has a belief in his forwards to deliver to order and without recourse to a late bombardment.
August afternoons away at modest opponents have regularly been the downfall of Liverpool ambition. Not at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, where exposing the gulf between last season's Champions League finalists and Championship winners was every bit as comfortable as Sunderland manager Roy Keane had feared.
It took until December 2nd for Benitez' side to triumph on their travels last season. "We knew we needed to start well at the start of the season in order for us to be real contenders," said the under-employed Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina.
In Fernando Torres and Andriy Voronin, two strikers from opposite ends of the financial scale yet unified on Wearside, there appears a marked improvement on many of the forwards bought and sold by Benitez and his predecessor, Gerard Houllier.
Torres impressed in every department bar finishing on Saturday, a tireless display that should have yielded two goals, and if the 23-year-old is the frustrated rock star he has claimed to be then Voronin is every inch the roadie: busy, productive and brutally strong but not always steady on his feet. The Ukrainian muscled into space inside the Sunderland area and shot low beyond Gordon following a flowing move in the 87th minute that sealed a routine win.
Carragher, the man whose importance to Liverpool is in inverse proportion to his recognition with England, will miss tomorrow's Champions League qualifier against Toulouse and Saturday's league game against Derby having broken a rib in a challenge with Reina. The length of his absence has not been determined.
For Keane, a chastening experience in his first encounter with a member of the "big four" was not without consolation. "I am genuinely pleased with all the players," said the Sunderland manager. "You have to remember we have a lot of young players, I remind myself of that every morning, and it will take time for certain players to find their feet in this division."
