Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers says there is still room for improvement despite victory over Aston Villa on Saturday.
With captain Steven Gerrard rested after suffering a hamstring injury last week, the Reds took all three points thanks to Fabio Borini's first goal of the season and a late Rickie Lambert strike.
"We have regained our identity in how the team has played for two years," Rodgers said during his post-match press conference.
"It is fair to say that in the opening four months or so of the season we were just nowhere near what we have been. We needed to find a solution to that.
"We changed the system for [the Manchester United game] and even though we lost the game, I saw enough in our play and the dynamic of the team to show that it could be a way for us going forward.
"There has been a lot of hard work, the players have got confidence now in the way of working and they have been performing very, very well.
"You will always be looking to improve, no matter how well you are doing. It's the challenge when you work with young players; you saw the youthfulness in the team today.
"There's a lot of improvement left in this team and group. But we're building towards the future here at the club. We have been progressing very well.
"We obviously had a bump in the road in the early part of the season. But in this period, the team is performing at a good level - defensively strong and playing some wonderful football. It's pleasing, but we have to keep improving."
The win moves the Reds closer to the top-four and the Northern Irishman insists a top-four finish is an objective for his team.
"If we can get through to the end of January and be near it then, like we showed last year, we can put a run together that can see us in there," Rodgers explained.
"It's still the objective and we'll keep working - we still have improvements to make. It's a really young and exciting team, you saw today some of the football we played.
"We maybe could have had one or two more goals. It was a tough game and we have seen it through, so we'll just keep working well."
