Fernando Torres has put the fear factor back into Liverpool, says Steven Gerrard.
The Spanish striker scored a hat-trick for the second successive home match in midweek, and now has an unprecedented treble in his sights against Newcastle tomorrow.
It was his third hat-trick of the season – the last Reds star to achieve that feat was Michael Owen in 2002/03, who will line up against Torres – and now he is aiming to become the first Liverpool player since Ian Rush in November 1982 to score a hat-trick in successive games.
Gerrard declared: “Fernando is frightening. From the opening home game of the season against Chelsea when he scored a cracker, he has been consistent all the way.
“He got off to a good start then and now he has hit 18 Premier League goals, the first person to do that here since Michael Owen. So hopefully he can continue like this to the end of the season.
“He has pace, power and is very direct but the most important thing for us is his work rate. He hasn’t come here as a star, he is chipping in with his work as well and when you get that from a player as well you cannot ask for much more.”
Gerrard, who took his own tally for the season to 18 in all competitions against West Ham, was delighted to see the Reds move back above Everton in the table.
“I know I called for an improvement recently and the way the performances have gone I am obviously pleased,” he added.
“We were all disappointed with the inconsistency at home but against West Ham we started to put that right.
“It was a good team performance, I said well done to all of them. But we have another big game tomorrow and must keep doing this to the end of the season.
“There is still a lot of pressure on us to get fourth place. This is now a massive month for us, it will be tough all the way.
“We have won the last three and if we can beat Newcastle on Saturday we will be able to focus on a huge game away to Inter Milan on Tuesday. That’s so important for us now.”
The Spanish striker scored a hat-trick for the second successive home match in midweek, and now has an unprecedented treble in his sights against Newcastle tomorrow.
It was his third hat-trick of the season – the last Reds star to achieve that feat was Michael Owen in 2002/03, who will line up against Torres – and now he is aiming to become the first Liverpool player since Ian Rush in November 1982 to score a hat-trick in successive games.
Gerrard declared: “Fernando is frightening. From the opening home game of the season against Chelsea when he scored a cracker, he has been consistent all the way.
“He got off to a good start then and now he has hit 18 Premier League goals, the first person to do that here since Michael Owen. So hopefully he can continue like this to the end of the season.
“He has pace, power and is very direct but the most important thing for us is his work rate. He hasn’t come here as a star, he is chipping in with his work as well and when you get that from a player as well you cannot ask for much more.”
Gerrard, who took his own tally for the season to 18 in all competitions against West Ham, was delighted to see the Reds move back above Everton in the table.
“I know I called for an improvement recently and the way the performances have gone I am obviously pleased,” he added.
“We were all disappointed with the inconsistency at home but against West Ham we started to put that right.
“It was a good team performance, I said well done to all of them. But we have another big game tomorrow and must keep doing this to the end of the season.
“There is still a lot of pressure on us to get fourth place. This is now a massive month for us, it will be tough all the way.
“We have won the last three and if we can beat Newcastle on Saturday we will be able to focus on a huge game away to Inter Milan on Tuesday. That’s so important for us now.”
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