It was a world away from the full-throttle entertainment of last-season's title charge, but Liverpool's 2-0 victory over Aston Villa was a step towards regaining the club's identity, according to manager Brendan Rodgers.
Saturday's solid if unspectacular performance against the Premier League's bluntest strike force came courtesy of a goal in each half from forwards Fabio Borini, recently brought in from the cold, and Rickie Lambert.
It was a third successive away league victory, an eighth game unbeaten in all competitions and took the Merseysiders' points tally for the last five games to an impressive 13, edging them closer to the prized top-four.
It was the sort of performance they seemed incapable of producing earlier in the season -- solid at the back, sufficiently clinical in attack -- and a pleasing turnaround for Rodgers.
"We have regained our identity in how the team has played for two years," Rodgers, whose side are seventh in the table, told reporters.
There was a lot in the victory over Villa that reflected the improving mood at Anfield.
There were further strong performances from Emre Can and Lazar Markovic, two summer signings who had been written off as part of a flawed transfer strategy.
Mamadou Sakho looked more like the towering centre half he does for France and Lucas Leiva, whose return has coincided with Liverpool's upturn in fortunes, was again an effective shield in front of the defence.
If Rodgers needed convincing of the Brazilian's abilities, then the stats are clear cut -- Liverpool have lost only two of the 20 games in which he has featured this season, compared to eight defeats in the 12 games in which he has been absent.
The win was another boon to Rodgers, whose job was under scrutiny when, at the start of December, they exited the Champions League in the group stage and lost heavily to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
As it turned out, that 3-0 defeat proved an inauspicious start to a relative new dawn, heralding a change in tactics and mindset that has prompted the unbeaten run and pulled Rodgers back from the brink.
The 3-4-3 formation adopted to plug gaping holes in defence has also brought the best out of some of the attacking talents who looked shorn of belief through the early season.
"It is fair to say that in the opening four months or so of the season we were just nowhere near what we have been. We needed to find a solution to that," Rodgers said.
"We changed the system for and even though we lost the game, I saw enough in our play and the dynamic of the team to show that it could be a way for us going forward."
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