Newcastle United 1 Liverpool 5:Liverpool assistant boss Sammy Lee believes confidence is growing in the Reds camp that they can win the Barclays Premier League title after strengthening their case with a 5-1 demolition of Newcastle. The Reds carried a one-point lead over closest rivals Chelsea going into the game and emerged having plundered three more with an awesome display on Tyneside.
Manager Rafael Benitez watched from the stands as he continued his recovery, but number two Lee was delighted enough for both men as he conducted the
post-match press conference.
Asked if Liverpool have it in them to win the title this year, Lee, who did just that with the club as a player, said: "We feel we have.
"The sides I played in — it seems such a long time ago, it was in black and white when I played.
"All I will say to you is we feel this is a very strong, very focused, very determined bunch of players, and the joy from my point of view is that they are all willing to work hard and improve on their game.
"That as a coach and a manager is all you can ask from players.
"We have got a belief. It's not an arrogance — hopefully it doesn't sound conceited, but we prepare to succeed, we don't prepare to fail.
"These lads are working very, very hard to make sure they get out the game what we feel as a club they deserve.
"But over the course of the season, only time will tell."
It is a measure of how well Liverpool played that Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given was the best player on the pitch even though he was beaten on five occasions.
But for his heroics — he made six superb saves before the break and an equally good double stop at the death — the visitors could have made double figures.
As it was, they cruised to victory at St James' Park with inspirational skipper Steven Gerrard once again leading by example.
With striker Robbie Keane cooling his heels on the bench, Gerrard finally beat Given 14 minutes before the break with a sweet strike, and, having been denied already by Given, Sami Hyypia made it 2-0 five minutes later with a header from a corner.
David Edgar, three days short of two years to the day since he marked his home debut with a fine equaliser against Manchester United, pulled one back in injury time, but the respite was short-lived.
Ryan Babel struck within five minutes of the restart and Gerrard claimed his second with 66 minutes gone before substitute Xabi Alonso converted a penalty 10
minutes later.
Asked how pleased Benitez was, Lee said: "We plan for wins — that's what thisteam is set out to do in each and every game.
"It doesn't always work out like that, but yes, he was pleased.
"But Rafa being Rafa, I can assure you he will be looking at the DVD now and analysing the performance and seeing where we can improve.
"That's our responsibility as managers and coaches, to not rest on our laurels, but to try to make sure we improve because we have got another hectic schedule coming up."
