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Cup success that saw Liverpool feature in two Wembley finals — one successful, one not so much — during the 2011-12 season was amongst the highlights of Kenny Dalglish's ultimately ill-fated second tenure as manager. For a young player like Jordan Henderson, it resulted in his first piece of club silverware followed by his first taste of European competition.
Liverpool have neither the League Cup or Europa League to look forward to for the rest of this season, and while some of the Premier League's crankier managers might consider this to be a "holiday", many consider the fewer number of fixtures to be the one silver lining to lack of European competition.
"That may have helped in terms of the extra rest it's given us," Henderson said when considering Liverpool's fixture tally in comparison to that of other clubs. "It may be one of the factors in our improved form. When you've got a game on a Thursday and another one at the weekend, mentally it can be tough and physically it's demanding, especially when you've got to travel abroad.
"All our efforts can go into the Premier League and FA Cup now."
Brendan Rodgers may not have been overly impressed with Sunday's win against Oldham, but Henderson is optimistic that it's the start of what could be a long cup run for Liverpool that will make up for previous disappointments the squad faced just two short years ago.
"Losing that final against Chelsea does make you want to go back and put things right," Henderson continued. "It was frustrating. We'd love to go back to Wembley and win. It's a big competition and we want to do well in it."
There are still a fair few Premier League teams left in the competition, Chelsea amongst them, but Liverpool's will be hoping that complacency does not take hold when they face off against either Bournemouth or Burton Albion in the fourth round at the end of the month. Few things are worse than having all the Euro-conserved energy in the world and then failing to use it properly when it counts domestically.
