It has been a long time. Actually it’s been eighteen years to be precise since Liverpool won their eighteenth league title. Since then, Manchester United’s dominance of the Premier League has threatened to overthrow the Merseyside club as most the successful domestic side in the country. Yet after a number of years, that has seen the style of play change, managers come and go and the club itself change hands to Americans, is 2008/09 finally the year in which Liverpool win the title?

The last time the Anfield outfit challenged for the title was eleven years ago in 1997, with David James flapping at two crosses, which allowed Coventry to overturn a 1-0 loss into a 2-1 victory and deny Liverpool first place. Since then, Roy Evans and his philosophy were gradually faded out by the more continental approach of Gerard Houllier. Yet the Frenchman, despite winning a memorable cup treble in 2001 and reaching 2^nd place that year in the league, eventually was worn out by the quest and left.

He is generally remembered for an anticlimactic final two seasons, but Houllier’s ‘five year plan’ did well to help Liverpool build. It’s just that he shot himself in the foot, with poor signings like the £14m Bruno Cheyrou. You can have a few mediocre to poor players in a squad, like Djimi Traore, but to have the majority of the side’s hopes relying on this sort of quality and then the likes of Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen was never going to bring home what the fans craved.

After winning the UEFA Cup and La Liga with Valencia, Rafael Benitez was hired to continue to project of winning the title. He became an instant legend after bring home European Cup number 5 in Istanbul. The miracle of winning an impossible game in which they were down and out afforded him the time to improve the infrastructure at the club in his own vision, as Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger had done at their respective clubs. They should have been 4-0 down, as had Hernan Crespo’s goal not been ruled out for offside, having being a yard behind the last defender, perhaps we would have seen a different story.

But you need decisions to go your way and Benitez’s first season was the result of exactly that. The purging process began, with Michael Owen the most notable of the departures. Yet naturally the mediocre players couldn’t leave in one mass emigration, with a clear example of this being Djimi Traore’s comical but strangely elegant own goal at Burnley in 2005 and his eventual Champions League winners’ medal later that same season.

He began moulding the side in his image, yet had the same flaw as Houllier in not knowing who to spend the money on. He signed a number of £6-7m players such as Jermaine Pennant. These kinds of buys were stop gap solutions, with the mantra being ‘if we need width, buy a winger in this price-range’, rather than focussing on the specific player needed. There were a number of unsuccessful signings ranging from Nunez to Gonzalez, with others having moderate impact, but there was nothing that was going to set the club on its way to the league title. This followed complaints for lack of transfer funds, which pigeonholed Benitez’s style as that of a chequebook manager among many media outlets. But for every Morientes (in terms of success not quality), there was an Alonso, and slowly but surely, the influence of the Spaniard was beginning to tell.

Then came the takeover - Americans George Gillett and Tom Hicks bought the club from Chairman Moores. Had the money arrived? At first, it seemed so. But then, with the new stadium on the horizon, the transfer budget was reduced and tension rose between the upper hierarchy and the manager. Yet big budget signings started coming in, with Javier Mascherano being signed for £18m, Fernando Torres for £20m and Robbie Keane for a similar amount. Yet Benitez complained this wasn’t enough, with Manchester United spending £30m for a player, their rivals were getting ahead.

People always refer to the net spend of a manager, yet it is irrelevant how much a player was sold for, but what the original price was, and still there remains a little doubt as to his capabilities in the English transfer market. But this summer, ‘Rafa’ did more to dispel any doubts over his spending prowess, by strengthening his side well. The issue of a lack of width was dismissed, through the astute purchase of Albert Riera, who already had Premiership experience with Manchester City, a few years back. Martin Skrtel was bought from Zenit St. Petersburg in January to add further steel to a strong backline. Others such as Babel and Kuyt have improved with time, with the latter especially in a rich scoring vein currently and in most of the big games.

The only weakness that remains is that of the effectiveness of the full backs, and even with Dossena and Degen being brought in, their lack of playing time has shown two more possible failures, even with Degen arriving on a free. The inability to sign Jose Bosingwa or Dani Alves, who was Benitez’s primary target, may tell in time. Yet, the Brazilian wing-back could have cost roughly £20m, so one is right to question Benitez’s choice of target. The Spaniard has signed players such as Agger on the cheap, so why not target a cheaper and equally talented option such as Bacary Sagna, formerly of Auxerre?

The club started slowly this time around, struggling past a strong Standard Liege outfit in the Champions League qualifiers, but things soon turned around when they managed a victory over arch-rivals Manchester United without either Steven Gerrard or Fernando Torres starting. Some strong results in the Champions League group stages have added to the club’s confidence, but it is the league where the difference is evident. Normally, the side struggles against mid-table opposition, but this year, they are showing a resolute attitude to games, clawing back deficits to record the three points.

It helped that Manchester City a few weeks ago and Wigan this past weekend both had a man sent off, but one can presume Liverpool of two seasons ago, wouldn’t have had the spirit to fight back for the win. What is also helping the team is a more balanced approach. The burden to succeed is no longer squarely placed on Steven Gerrard’s shoulders, but is spread across a number of footballers, who can change the game, with a decisive block, pass or shot. This new look Liverpool is looking to emulate Valencia’s success in 2003/04.

It is inevitable that they will challenge for the title. The only question that remains is if they can keep the Chelsea juggernaut in check. But, to be honest, that is a question posing ever other challenging side.