Rush: Going on the attack paid off

Monday's night's impressive demolition of Portsmouth at Anfield was the ideal start to a crucial week for Liverpool, writes Ian Rush.

It was so pleasing to see us play the kind of attacking football that has been lacking in recent months.

It's easy to dismiss it as being 'only' Portsmouth, but they are FA Cup semi-finalists and can be dangerous on their day as we discovered at Fratton Park back in December.

Too often this season we've failed to show our quality against inferior opposition but we stamped our authority on the game from the start against Avram Grant's side.

Crucially, the tempo was fast. Our passing was a lot quicker than it has been and the movement was a lot better. That caused Portsmouth a lot of problems.

We showed a lot more going forward than we have done of late and I was really impressed with the amount of chances we created.

We scored four but with a bit more luck in front of goal we could have doubled that.

It was a vast improvement after the disappointing back-to-back defeats to Wigan and Lille.

Sometimes this season we've been a bit too cautious but Monday night was a return to the way we all love to see Liverpool play.

It's a different game when you play the likes of Manchester United or Chelsea, but against other teams the onus is on Liverpool to chase the game and we did that.

It was a special night for Alberto Aquilani, who scored his first goal for the Reds in front of the Kop.

The Italian has had a tough first season with the Reds following his move from Roma, but he will be relieved to be off the mark and he deserved his goal because he performed really well.

Aquilani got his chance in place of Lucas in midfield and it worked well with Javier Mascherano alongside him.

There's no doubt the balance of the side was right for that game.

His passing was good and he was always looking to move the ball forward when too often in recent matches it's gone sideways.

Yes, Portsmouth gave Aquilani the space in which to play but you still have to make the most of it. His match fitness is getting better and Monday will do his confidence the world of good.

We are yet to see the best of Aquilani so let's hope he can really push on from here and help ensure we finish the season strongly.

It's a massive few days for the club with the game against Lille in the Europa League at Anfield tomorrow night followed by Sunday's game at Manchester United.

They will be tougher than Portsmouth but at least we're going into those crucial games on a high and with key players getting back to top form.

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.