IN the last couple of weeks, Liverpool have really raised their game by at least 25%.

They have started to look a real unit and they all seem to know what they are doing.

That hasn’t always been the case under Brendan Rodgers, although the return of Lucas Leiva has made a significant difference.

Liverpool made a real point at West Ham on Sunday, not least with Luis Suarez being unavailable.

Everyone may have expected them to struggle, but they kept plugging away and showed real character.

As Chelsea discovered recently, if you don’t deal with West Ham then they can turn you over. Liverpool dealt with them and showed a lot of guts to come back from 2-1 down.

Fringe players, or those we might think are not in Rodgers’ long-term plans, are starting to contribute.

No-one has ever doubted Joe Cole’s ability. But he’s rarely been fit at Liverpool, and the question has always been whether he could settle in the north.

This is the first time in his career he has not been a first choice to even be on the bench, and he’s had to fight for his place. He may have found that difficult at first, but he is showing some resilience now and fair play to him.

Maybe the future is to tell the players they have no future. Rodgers may have been clever by giving Stewart Downing, Joe Cole and Jordan Henderson a shout to say they might get sold and to see how they might react. They have reacted very well.

If Rodgers has done that on purpose, then well done. If he hasn’t done it on purpose, then he’s got lucky. And you know what they say about a lucky general...