my liverpool fc

IT appears everybody's doing it. Chelsea and Birmingham did it on Sunday; Manchester United always do it. Apparently Liverpool are trying it.

Only the likes of Everton and Middlesbrough seem to pooh-pooh it. What is it? Why, playing 'expansive' football of course. Not just plain old 'open' football or even 'attacking' football; 'expansive' is the new black.

How this epithet slipped into football's increasingly bizarre vernacular has escaped me, but no self-respecting pundit would now dare not use it.

Recourse to an on-line dictionary for enlightenment provides encouragement for the proponents of exciting football: "unrestrained, free or open" screams one source, the equivalent of football burning its metaphorical bra. But wait: another, medically-based entry defines it as "indicative of exaggerated euphoria and delusions of self-importance".

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Oops; that's Jose Mourinho in one. So is this latest Premier League fad to be the true way forward for our elite clubs, with fans treated to 5-4 thrillers every week; or is it the surest way to the madhouse for those managers stupid enough to try and slug it out with the opposition regardless of form or talent?

If last Saturday at Villa was anything to go by, then I'm willing to take the chance. For the likes of Birmingham, creditable though their attempt to take on Chelsea was, I suspect reality will soon rear its ugly head and the fear of relegation will gradually gnaw away at the confidence needed to sustain that style of play.

For Liverpool, however, it should mark the realisation that Fulham, Blackburn et al are not Barcelona and should not require two holding midfielders and a withdrawn second striker.

Away games at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge are a different matter of course, but Villa Park, the Riverside and even the Reebok should be seen as venues fit for the confident, pacy and aggressive football that this new squad is undoubtedly capable of.

And so it was last Saturday. Of course, if Gerrard had not hit that spectacular free-kick then the moans on the phone-ins would have rung to the tune of 'same old, same old'. But even if that superb shot had somehow rebounded from the woodwork, it couldn't have disguised that this was a different performance than that which characterised many away games last season.

Where last season's travels were typified by a reluctance to commit men forward, a trait which led to counter-attacks stalling and then faltering against regrouped defences, here we saw slick passing movements at speed as we strove to get to the byline for the 'killer' ball pulled back to onrushing forwards.

Had we failed to take three points, then on this occasion it would have been down to inspired goalkeeping and, on one occasion in particular, brave defending rather then the profligate finishing that marked last season.

To his credit, Rafa picked a team that would be no stranger to the Premier League.

While it was initially frustrating to see Pennant and Riise in the team rather than Benayoun and Kewell, Rafa undoubtedly got it right - and restoring Gerrard to his rightful position produced a display that did nothing to shift my conviction that this will be his best season yet.

Refreshed by a decent summer's rest, inspired by the increasing quality of those around him, get your money on him now for Footballer of the Year.

There's no finer player in the Premier League, and comparisons with Frank Lampard this Sunday will confirm that, while the admittedly impressive Chelsea player is on the wane, Gerrard is about to scale new heights.