Rafa thinks so:
RAFA: THE 'HOLE' IN GERRARD'S GAME
Rafa Benitez believes Steven Gerrard can still improve in his role behind Fernando Torres despite plundering 24 goals this term.
In an ominous warning to the rest of the Barclays Premier League, Benitez identified 'one or two' areas where the Football Writers' Player of the Year can improve when deployed in the hole behind El Nino.
"Hopefully he can improve even more next year," Benitez told LFC TV in a three-hour season review to be aired at 8pm BST on Saturday night.
"He knows the position a little bit but he is aware that he can still improve. There are one or two little things that if he works on he will be even better."
The skipper has scored 92 goals in five years since Benitez arrived from Valencia, compared with 28 in the five seasons previous.
Asked how much Gerrard has improved during his tenure, Benitez replied: "He has learnt a lot, and he is still keen to learn.
"If you analyse his numbers - he's scored 23, 11, 21 and now 24. I remember when we talked about him as a right winger and everyone was talking in the press, but he still got 23 that year.
"Now in a free role he got 24, which is a fantastic achievement for him. I was really pleased because he said it was thanks to his teammates - that is really positive."
Meanwhile, Benitez rejects the idea that Liverpool's success in the second half of the season came after he let the shackles off his team.
Instead he points to the improved form of individuals to explain why Liverpool scored on average 1.5 goals per game before Christmas, compared with 2.3 from Boxing Day onwards.
"People can talk about us needing to be more offensive like we were at the end of the season, but we were doing more or less the same things," said Benitez.
"If you analyse our draws at home before Christmas, we had a lot of chances. You were always talking about 20 chances, but we didn't take them.
"The difference was that some people were doing a little bit better. Javier Mascherano was a big difference in the second half of the season, and Gerrard also improved as the season went on.
"Also Yossi Benayoun. Yossi was playing really well and was a key player for us in the end. If players like Yossi or Gerrard play well, the team is going to have more chances because they're good at giving the final pass."
Liverpool's ruthless streak in the second half of the season resulted in 10 wins from the final 11 games as they kept the pressure on champions Manchester United until the penultimate weekend.
"I talked every week about doing our job, getting three points in every game, so I am really proud of my players," added Benitez. "When we needed to win, to perform, we did really well.
"We played really well for the majority of the season. The draws were a problem but we created chances. But we were delighted at how things went when we took our chances, and I think the fans were also very pleased with the style we were playing."
The Reds tallied 86 points during the campaign - a club record in the Premier League, and enough to claim 12 of our 18 titles.
But instead of overhauling United and securing a first championship since 1990, Benitez and his squad ended the season trophyless.
The boss added: "For sure I would have taken 86 points at the start and I would also have been sure that we'd have won something with this amount of points but the Premier League is very strong, it's always difficult.
"It was good but you cannot say 'success' if you don't win a trophy.
"Two or three of the top sides in the world are in England, so clearly it's not easy to win trophies.
"But to break some records, score a lot of goals and not concede many, and to only lose two games is not bad.
"Clearly, if you analyse the numbers to see why we have improved, there are two or three things. But the main one is the results against the top four.
"Also, our results away have been much better. At home we can talk about the figures and the draws - but more or less it was the same as the season before."
Rafa's Review of the Season is aired on LFC TV at 8pm on Saturday, from which time it will also be available online on demand.
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N164565090530-0847.htm
RAFA: THE 'HOLE' IN GERRARD'S GAME
Rafa Benitez believes Steven Gerrard can still improve in his role behind Fernando Torres despite plundering 24 goals this term.
In an ominous warning to the rest of the Barclays Premier League, Benitez identified 'one or two' areas where the Football Writers' Player of the Year can improve when deployed in the hole behind El Nino.
"Hopefully he can improve even more next year," Benitez told LFC TV in a three-hour season review to be aired at 8pm BST on Saturday night.
"He knows the position a little bit but he is aware that he can still improve. There are one or two little things that if he works on he will be even better."
The skipper has scored 92 goals in five years since Benitez arrived from Valencia, compared with 28 in the five seasons previous.
Asked how much Gerrard has improved during his tenure, Benitez replied: "He has learnt a lot, and he is still keen to learn.
"If you analyse his numbers - he's scored 23, 11, 21 and now 24. I remember when we talked about him as a right winger and everyone was talking in the press, but he still got 23 that year.
"Now in a free role he got 24, which is a fantastic achievement for him. I was really pleased because he said it was thanks to his teammates - that is really positive."
Meanwhile, Benitez rejects the idea that Liverpool's success in the second half of the season came after he let the shackles off his team.
Instead he points to the improved form of individuals to explain why Liverpool scored on average 1.5 goals per game before Christmas, compared with 2.3 from Boxing Day onwards.
"People can talk about us needing to be more offensive like we were at the end of the season, but we were doing more or less the same things," said Benitez.
"If you analyse our draws at home before Christmas, we had a lot of chances. You were always talking about 20 chances, but we didn't take them.
"The difference was that some people were doing a little bit better. Javier Mascherano was a big difference in the second half of the season, and Gerrard also improved as the season went on.
"Also Yossi Benayoun. Yossi was playing really well and was a key player for us in the end. If players like Yossi or Gerrard play well, the team is going to have more chances because they're good at giving the final pass."
Liverpool's ruthless streak in the second half of the season resulted in 10 wins from the final 11 games as they kept the pressure on champions Manchester United until the penultimate weekend.
"I talked every week about doing our job, getting three points in every game, so I am really proud of my players," added Benitez. "When we needed to win, to perform, we did really well.
"We played really well for the majority of the season. The draws were a problem but we created chances. But we were delighted at how things went when we took our chances, and I think the fans were also very pleased with the style we were playing."
The Reds tallied 86 points during the campaign - a club record in the Premier League, and enough to claim 12 of our 18 titles.
But instead of overhauling United and securing a first championship since 1990, Benitez and his squad ended the season trophyless.
The boss added: "For sure I would have taken 86 points at the start and I would also have been sure that we'd have won something with this amount of points but the Premier League is very strong, it's always difficult.
"It was good but you cannot say 'success' if you don't win a trophy.
"Two or three of the top sides in the world are in England, so clearly it's not easy to win trophies.
"But to break some records, score a lot of goals and not concede many, and to only lose two games is not bad.
"Clearly, if you analyse the numbers to see why we have improved, there are two or three things. But the main one is the results against the top four.
"Also, our results away have been much better. At home we can talk about the figures and the draws - but more or less it was the same as the season before."
Rafa's Review of the Season is aired on LFC TV at 8pm on Saturday, from which time it will also be available online on demand.
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N164565090530-0847.htm
