Gerrard optimistic

         

    Gerrard suggests, however, that while Everton are close to achieving their aim this season Liverpool are a long way from theirs.It's not all gloom and doom. We've played some fantastic stuff this season, and besides a handful of games we've always been in with a shout.Yes, Everton have been consistent, but they are still only sixth," said the midfielder.Gerrard believes the January arrivals of striker Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea and Philippe Coutinho from Inter Milan significantly impacted the team, which up to that point had been heavily reliant on Luis Suarez's goals.They have had a good season but maybe their targets were slightly different to others around them in the table.When you make signings you need to contribute. If they are attacking players, you need them to score and set up goals and be better than we already have.For real consistency, the example has to be Manchester United. Not Everton.And if you add another striker to that and you have Luis coming back (from a 10-match ban), then that's the firepower we need to be challenging nearer to the top four.Liverpool, though, is my main concern. Our target at the start of the season was the top four so it's clear our consistency hasn't been good enough.In fact, if we had got in Sturridge and Coutinho at the start of the season then I think we'd have been right up there among the top four.I'm not really a stats man, I prefer to look at the bigger picture, but if you look at our amount of goals and clean sheets, it's clear we are moving in the right direction.