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Among the many gifts bestowed upon Liverpool FC supporters during a thrilling Premier League campaign has been the plethora of abiding images.

From the wonder goals of Luis Suarez , the celebrations of Daniel Sturridge to the scintillating sprints of Raheem Sterling , the memory banks of Reds fans are already full to bursting.

There is one, however, in danger of proving more decisive, more crucial than all others.

The image of Steven Gerrard losing his footing against Chelsea a fortnight ago has been pinpointed by many as the moment the championship inexorably slipped from Liverpool’s grasp.

Certainly, that was the view of the Crystal Palace fans who taunted the Reds skipper during last Monday’s damaging 3-3 draw at Selhurst Park, echoing chants first heard at Goodison two days earlier when title rivals Manchester City defeated Everton.

Brendan Rodgers , though, doesn’t subscribe to the theory Gerrard’s untimely slip was the defining moment of the campaign.

Instead, the Reds boss recalls the offside given against Raheem Sterling that left him enraged following the 2-1 defeat at City on Boxing Day.

“Steven would probably take it (the chants) as a huge compliment and he should do,” says Rodgers.

“When someone of that greatness and ability, it’s just unfortunate what happened to him, but it could have happened to anyone.

“It would be more unfortunate if the decision at Man City, when I got fined £8,000, might define the season. The offside.

“I was the guy who never speaks about referees. Raheem Sterling is clearly onside and in on goal.

“It’s the only time in my life I’ve been fined. I knew at the time the offside might be significant.

“So that might define our season. It won’t be Stevie’s slip.”

In any case, Rodgers is confident this season will not represent Gerrard’s last chance of winning the Premier League.

“He’s achieved so much in his career and he’s still got a few seasons to go,” he says.

“I look at him in training every day and I see his fitness. He’s going to go into the Champions League next season and will be one of the top playmakers.

“So he’ll be fine and we’ll do everything we can as a football club over the next few years to hopefully allow supporters not to sing that.”

Of course, the title hasn’t been decided just yet.

But it would take one final twist of a dramatic season to prevent City gaining the point they need against West Ham United to secure their second crown in three years.

Should they fail, a Liverpool victory against Newcastle United at Anfield would end a 24-year championship drought and earn their 19th and most remarkable title.

Rodgers, though, reckons his Reds have already shown they have what it takes to compete at the very top.

“The key ingredient we take away from this season will be belief,” he says.

“From day one I’ve been trying to instil in the players that this way of working can bring us success, and that’s difficult when you haven’t had it.

“But this is the best challenge the club has had (in the Premier League era). Steven at 33 has had it for the first time in his career.

“So we’re going to be better for that and we’ll go into next season with belief and that is going to make us a real force next year.

“Other teams will improve, of course. Chelsea will buy a striker, other teams will buy other players but we’ll be better as well.”

While attempting to overhaul City’s superior goal difference ultimately cost victory at Palace, Liverpool can at least match one achievement of their title rivals by reaching a century of league goals for only the second time in their history – the only other time being when they notched 106 in 1895-96.

Not since 1961 have two top-flight sides scored at least 100 goals in a league campaign, and Rodgers says: “It shows you the league is at a really high level, full of some of the best players in the world.

“When you look across the European leagues, it is the offensive and attacking teams that end up normally winning it.”

Rodgers adds: “If you look back at where we were when I first came in, on 47 goals, then it is a huge achievement.

“We haven’t had a huge change in players, we’ve changed the style. So it shows the confidence of the team.

“In Liverpool and the great history of the club, it was the 1800s when we last scored 100 goals or more and that is when there were more games.

“So really that magnifies the extent to which this group has developed this season.

“And it is not going to end there, it is only going to improve.”

Having won 11 games in a row, that Liverpool have taken just a point from their last two games has prompted suggestions they have buckled under the weight of expectation that, in truth, wasn’t there for much of the campaign.

But Rodgers says: “I felt we dealt with the pressure well. We made some mistakes in games and some slips have been unfortunate which has cost us.

“But we’ve gained. And I take it as a compliment when people talk about us winning the title.

“It was so far removed from last year and that is a great signal of how we have progressed.

“We want to win titles – that is why we are here. I’m performance-based and if you perform well the consequences will be winning titles and trophies.”

And, with just 90 minutes remaining, there’s still a chance it could be this season.

Be quick out of the blocks

Brendan Rodgers has urged his Liverpool players to heap the pressure on title rivals Manchester City with a trademark burst out of the blocks this afternoon.

On what is poised to be a dramatic final day of the Premier League season, the Reds need to beat Newcastle at Anfield and hope City lose at home to West Ham United to secure their first championship since 1990.

And Rodgers expects the fight “to go right to the wire” and knows from experience a strong start for his side will ensure a nervy time at the Etihad.

“We have to keep doing our job, which is get the win,” he says.

“It will be interesting if we make one of our quick starts and get up in the game.

“Then there’ll be a point in the game when we’re up and they’re drawing.

“At Chelsea there was a game towards the end of the season – and it’s not nice either – when you know that there’s another team playing that can win, and that you have to not lose.

“It’s uncomfortable. It was a nervy one and you could sense it, the crowd, the players.

“Even though it was deemed it was going to happen, there was nervousness there.”

Liverpool will be hoping for a favour from West Ham’s former Anfield triumvirate Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing and Joe Cole, along with boyhood Reds fan Kevin Nolan.

“It’s not over by any stretch of the imagination, and West Ham are a really good defensive unit,” says Rodgers. “They went to Tottenham and won 3-0.

“Andy Carroll can score goals, they’ve got other players who can score goals. But we can only do our job and keep the pressure on. One of the first things I said to the players when I came in here was from the first day of pre-season until the final whistle goes at the last game of the season you’ll be intensely worked, and then you can go away and reflect when the season’s over.

“I remind them of that all the time.

“This is why the training this week has been as intense as in pre-season. And why it will go right to the wire.”

"We’ve done the hard part by getting back into top four

Brendan Rodgers insists Liverpool have done the hard part by breaking back into the top four.

But he admits the Reds need to improve their defensive mentality if they are to compete regularly among the elite both home and abroad.

While still possessing an outside chance of winning the championship, at the very least the Anfield side are back in the Champions League for the first time in five years having finished eighth and seventh in the previous two seasons.

And Rodgers says: “Every challenge is difficult, but I think the hard part is to break in there.

“We've seen it over the years, teams have spent the money trying to get in and can't get in.

“Now we're in it. And we've got to do everything we can to stay in.”

With that in mind, Rodgers will be handed significant transfer funds by club owners Fenway Sports Group to strengthen his squad during the summer.

Southampton’s £20million-rated England midfielder Adam Lallana has emerged as a priority, with Rodgers last week having revealed the need for “five or six” new arrivals.

Among them is likely to be a centre-back, with the Reds boss admitting the mindset of his defenders on the road has proven costly.

Indeed, the last team to win the title while shipping more than Liverpool’s current total of 49 goals was Ipswich Town 53 years ago.

“Our Achilles heel obviously was our defensive record in some of the away games,” says Rodgers.

“It is not the defensive record as a whole – we’ve conceded 17 at home which is not bad. But we have conceded 32 away.

“Even in what you deem the big games we’ve had clean sheets against Tottenham and Southampton. But we conceded three at Cardiff, Stoke and Palace. Two at Norwich. That tells you about the mentality and that we have to be better. And that is what has cost us.”

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