Rodgers: White Hart Lane was a watershed
A December dismantling of Tottenham Hotspur was the 'watershed moment' when Liverpool progressed from a developing team to one that could challenge, according to Brendan Rodgers.
The Reds travelled to White Hart Lane five months ago on the back of consecutive and comfortable home victories, but equally with the knowledge of a troublesome record at the ground in North London.
Such statistics were rendered history before half-time, though, as a sublime opener by Luis Suarez preceded a second from Jordan Henderson - with the visitors enjoying total dominance over Spurs.
Their superior pressing, work-rate and quality in possession told further when the two sides returned for the second period; Jon Flanagan, Suarez and Raheem Sterling racked up a 5-0 rout, a result which helped Rodgers' charges move top of the Barclays Premier League at Christmas.
Liverpool would ultimately finish second to Manchester City, but in reflecting on a wondrous campaign this week, the boss highlighted the importance of that performance on December 15.
"I just think it was the one which gave the team the belief in how we had been working," Rodgers told the Liverpool Echo. "We had been improving and developing really well.
"We had been growing as a team but I felt that was the first away game where, against a rival, we were able to demonstrate our ideas of football.
"Tottenham are deemed a rival and they were deemed a club ahead of where Liverpool were. Plus, the club's results at White Hart Lane hadn't been so good for a number of years.
"To go there and be so complete and play a perfect game in terms of how we want to pass and how we want to press, with penetration, with goals and young players in the team performing really well."
Remarkably, such a display would be repeated regularly throughout the second half of the season, as Arsenal, Everton, Manchester United, Southampton and Spurs again suffered against Rodgers' relentless Reds.
Nevertheless, he believes the White Hart Lane triumph was the maiden catalyst for a run which carried Liverpool to the Premier League summit and took the championship race to the final day.
The Northern Irishman added: "We've had a number of remarkable performances throughout the season. Just look at some of the scorelines - 3-0 Manchester United, 4-0 Everton, 5-1 Arsenal, 4-0 and 5-0 Tottenham.
"I look back on that day as the moment the players truly believed in how we work. From that day on I saw just that one per cent change in terms of how they trained and how we could approach the games."