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Paul Eaton 20 November 2008
Fabio Aurelio believes it would be a greater achievement to win the league title with Liverpool than it was to pip Barcelona and Real Madrid to La Liga glory under Rafael Benitez with Valencia.
Click here to watch our chat with Fabio at Melwood>>
Aurelio tasted domestic success twice under Rafa at the Mestalla, with Valencia upsetting the odds to win the league in both 2002 and 2004, and the similarities between the challenge the Reds face now and the one Valencia faced earlier in his career are not lost on the Brazilian.
But just as Valencia did twice in La Liga, Aurelio is confident Liverpool can maintain their current momentum and continue to challenge at the top until the end of the season.
"We are in a really strong position at the moment and we have to keep it going," he told Liverpoolfc.tv.
"We have started well and now the challenge is to sustain it. It's difficult to play for nine months of a season in different competitions at such a high level, but we have the squad to do it with at least two players competing for every position.
"This is the best squad I've been part of at Liverpool. The relationship between the players is good and everyone knows they really have to fight for their place. We are all working as hard as we can in every training session to do the best possible job and that shows the mentality within the squad is right.
"It's similar to when we were at Valencia in that we had been waiting so long to win the title and I can definitely see the same qualities in this team as we had back then.
"The difference compared to the first time we won it at Valencia is that back then we didn't start the season well, and from being six or seven points behind quite late on we went on an amazing run and beat Real Madrid by eight points in the end. This time we are in a much stronger position, we are full of confidence, towards the top of the table and now we want to maintain it to ensure we can sprint to the finish at the end.
"Of course Rafa has experience of winning titles and so he knows how to keep focused but also how to keep the morale high within the squad. He and Sammy Lee are good at motivating the players.
"There are similarities with what happened at Valencia in terms of the rotation of the players. Rafa knows when to rest players and back in 2002 we were fresher than other teams at the end of the season because he'd rested players at the right times.
"We're up against tough competition though with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal, but we know we can compete and we know we can do it. It's a difficult competition but we are confident.
"We have a good opportunity to do something great for the club this year, but there is still a long way to go and we have to keep focused."
But having experienced the joy of a title winning triumph, is Aurelio allowing himself to get excited by what the end of the season could bring for the Reds?
"When a game is over and you've won it and got another three points then you do think to yourself that it's another game over and another game closer to the end," he added.
"It's important to keep remembering that there is a long way to go though. All we can say at the moment is that we're feeling strong, we're confident and we believe we can do something great this season. It would be amazing if we could win the title."
Fabio Aurelio believes it would be a greater achievement to win the league title with Liverpool than it was to pip Barcelona and Real Madrid to La Liga glory under Rafael Benitez with Valencia.
Click here to watch our chat with Fabio at Melwood>>
Aurelio tasted domestic success twice under Rafa at the Mestalla, with Valencia upsetting the odds to win the league in both 2002 and 2004, and the similarities between the challenge the Reds face now and the one Valencia faced earlier in his career are not lost on the Brazilian.
But just as Valencia did twice in La Liga, Aurelio is confident Liverpool can maintain their current momentum and continue to challenge at the top until the end of the season.
"We are in a really strong position at the moment and we have to keep it going," he told Liverpoolfc.tv.
"We have started well and now the challenge is to sustain it. It's difficult to play for nine months of a season in different competitions at such a high level, but we have the squad to do it with at least two players competing for every position.
"This is the best squad I've been part of at Liverpool. The relationship between the players is good and everyone knows they really have to fight for their place. We are all working as hard as we can in every training session to do the best possible job and that shows the mentality within the squad is right.
"It's similar to when we were at Valencia in that we had been waiting so long to win the title and I can definitely see the same qualities in this team as we had back then.
"The difference compared to the first time we won it at Valencia is that back then we didn't start the season well, and from being six or seven points behind quite late on we went on an amazing run and beat Real Madrid by eight points in the end. This time we are in a much stronger position, we are full of confidence, towards the top of the table and now we want to maintain it to ensure we can sprint to the finish at the end.
"Of course Rafa has experience of winning titles and so he knows how to keep focused but also how to keep the morale high within the squad. He and Sammy Lee are good at motivating the players.
"There are similarities with what happened at Valencia in terms of the rotation of the players. Rafa knows when to rest players and back in 2002 we were fresher than other teams at the end of the season because he'd rested players at the right times.
"We're up against tough competition though with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal, but we know we can compete and we know we can do it. It's a difficult competition but we are confident.
"We have a good opportunity to do something great for the club this year, but there is still a long way to go and we have to keep focused."
But having experienced the joy of a title winning triumph, is Aurelio allowing himself to get excited by what the end of the season could bring for the Reds?
"When a game is over and you've won it and got another three points then you do think to yourself that it's another game over and another game closer to the end," he added.
"It's important to keep remembering that there is a long way to go though. All we can say at the moment is that we're feeling strong, we're confident and we believe we can do something great this season. It would be amazing if we could win the title."
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