Liverpool solidity satisfies Houllier

Liverpool's defeat of Dynamo Kiev saw them reach the halfway stage of the first phase of the Champions' League as Britain's only unbeaten side – a sign that they are gradually recapturing the cohesion and consistency of the second half of last season that took them to three trophies, rather than of the relative strengths of the respective groups.

At a time when his attacking options have been hamstrung by Michael Owen's injury, Gérard Houllier has been gratified by Liverpool's defensive improvement, not only by the back four but as a team. The return to the solidity of last spring has, in turn, given them a platform for greater creativity in midfield. Only the front line, with the stylish exception of Wednesday's match-winner, Jari Litmanen, is currently misfiring.

The clean sheet they achieved in Dortmund last week, their first in nine matches, has now been followed by two more, against Tottenham and Kiev. After a shaky start to their campaign at home to Boavista – whose third-minute goal was the quickest ever scored against Liverpool in Europe – concentration levels have improved conspicuously. Having seen the Ukrainian champions restricted to half-chances, Houllier admitted he had feared a fate similar to Manchester United's late collapse in La Coruña, but his team always looked to be in control.

The centre-backs, Sami Hyypia and Stéphane Henchoz, have recovered their impregnable aura after an uncertain period around the time of Sander Westerveld's banishment from goal and the arrival of Jerzy Dudek. In front of them, Dietmar Hamann has regained the confidence that was evidently shattered when six of his Liverpool colleagues were prominent in England's 5-1 rout of Germany, making him the ideal counterweight to Steven Gerrard's attacking forays.

And the way Litmanen has re-emerged with two crucial goals, having not even made the bench at Borussia Dortmund, is proof of the adage about form being temporary, class permanent. Now 30, the Finn showed that guile and flair can still flourish in a tournament whose primary characteristics, according to his manager, are pace and intensity. He has a winner's medal from Ajax's 1995 triumph and scored nine goals the following year, including one in the final, so Anfield should not have been surprised to see him so stimulated by the occasion.

Owen will not be fit in time for Liverpool's next Group B fixture, the return in Kiev on 16 October. In the interim, with Premiership matches against Newcastle and Leeds looming and Manchester United due on Merseyside on 4 November, it will intriguing to see whether the restless, ruthless Houllier will be content to persevere with a strikeforce of one comparative veteran and two players, Emile Heskey and Robbie Fowler, who are struggling for goals.

Dynamo, technically adept but bereft of the penetration they had in the eras of Oleg Blokhin and Andrei Shevchenko, will surely be a more formidable foe at home. Judging by the Ukrainian media's anguished, seemingly interminable post-match interrogation of the coach, Valery Lobanovsky, bottom position is an insult to national honour. Unusually, he cited a lack of communication among different nationalities as a factor in their failure, along with inexperience.

This prompted one of the visiting media to ask Houllier what language was used by his sundry Scousers, Poles, Finns, Swiss, Frenchmen, Germans and Norwegians. "They speak football," came the amused, bemused reply. Given that two of the heaviest European defeats in Liverpool's history came at Dinamo Tbilisi (3-0 in 1979) and Spartak Moscow (4-2 in '92), they may need to be at their most fluent in the former Soviet Union's second biggest republic in order to keep pace with Boavista and keep Dortmund at bay.