WHEN Bill Shankly ended Anfield’s 17-year wait for the English top-flight title in 1964 he lived by a simple creed.

Let other teams worry about Liverpool, rather than the other way round.

It is an approach which could yet yield the same outcome for Rafael Benitez this term.

Of all the improbable comebacks that have defined the Spaniard’s reign, lifting the Premier League title in May would rank as the most remarkable.

Seemingly dead and buried in the title race only two weeks ago after a wretched 2-0 defeat by Middlesbrough, Liverpool this morning sit just one point behind the leaders and defending champions Manchester United.

In the four games which have proceeded the Riverside reverse, the Anfield side have now scored 15 goals. European superpowers Real Madrid and United have been humbled, Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa humiliated.

This transformation has coincided with the reunion of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres at the spearhead of Liverpool’s attack.

It would be too simplistic, however, to entirely credit the Reds’ resurgence with the return to form and fitness of Benitez’s stellar performers.

Importantly, Liverpool’s rejuvenation in the title chase has seemingly been accompanied by a change in the manager’s approach.

Gone is the conservatism which stifled the Anfield club’s pursuit of their 19th crown for long spells of this season.

In place of caution, Benitez has allowed this group of supremely talented and well-drilled players off the leash. The results speak for themselves.

Liverpool are never more potent than when their most influential players are free of their manager’s tactical constrains.

The Spaniard has finally discovered that when he lets other teams worry about his side, that is exactly what they do.

After this relentless performance, Liverpool’s rivals will be terrified.

In particular Sir Alex Ferguson, who has seen his side’s points and goal difference advantage at the summit evaporate in the space of eight days.

The Scot’s outbursts about Liverpool have grown more erratic since his side’s 4-1 routing at Old Trafford.

There is no greater compliment Ferguson can pay a rival, of course, than to talk about them.

The advantage remains with Old Trafford, but the momentum is firmly with Anfield.

However, the true test of Liverpool’s title credentials is yet to come.

As emphatic as the victories over Real Madrid, Manchester and Aston Villa were, Benitez’s men have proven little that most observers didn’t already know.

It has never been against the more expansive sides of the Premier League and Europe that Liverpool have struggled.

Rather it is against the lesser lights, the peskier elements of the division, that the lack of flair and pace in the wider areas of Benitez’s team has been exposed.

Yesterday, Martin O’Neill’s men gave Liverpool space and were punished.

The Anfield outfit’s next opponents, United’s conquerors Fulham, are unlikely to be as indulgent at Craven Cottage.

In particular, the form of Albert Riera, a goalscorer and contender for man of the match yesterday, will be significant in the weeks to come.

The Spaniard has struggled for consistency in his first season at Anfield, but when on top of his game the winger brings a balance to Benitez’s midfield.

He may lack pace – the Liverpool manager seems to favour painfully slow wide men, think Boudewijn Zenden, Dirk Kuyt and Mark Gonzalez – but his ability to beat a man on the touchline can unlock the most stubborn of rearguards.

It is a quality sadly lacking elsewhere in Benitez’s squad, which boasts a spine the envy of world football, and one he must seek to address with the reported £30million war chest he will be given this summer. Regardless of where Liverpool finish in May.

Investing in a world-class winger would certainly be a better use of funds than renewing his interest – or rather obsession – with Aston Villa captain Gareth Barry.

Barry is undoubtedly a player of great talent, but there was only one winner when the England midfielder came head to head with the man he almost replaced in the summer, Xabi Alonso excelling alongside Javier Mascherano.

It has been claimed that Barry’s arrival wouldn’t necessarily signal the departure of Alonso, but it is difficult to see where he would fit into Benitez’s plans in that instance.

Given his sluggishness, though, perhaps Benitez wants him for the wing.