Just past the hour Kuyt failed to pick the right pass with Gerrard in wonderfully promising position.
It did not take long for the ploy to produce dividends, with Gerrard the creator of Heskey's opening goal for England after seven minutes.
Even with Gerrard, Torres and Joe Cole in the starting line-up, Liverpool attacks were in short supply and Rovers took a deserved lead on the half-hour mark.
Alberto Aquilani was handed his second start in four days at the heart of Liverpool's 4-4-1-1 formation and the Italian midfielder linked well with Gerrard and Torres.
Torres's night of frustration etched up a notch when he was booked for a poor tackle on Boyce, with Gerrard becoming the fifth Liverpool to be yellow carded for an equally poor challenge on McCarthy.
That match saw a change from the rigid 4-4-2 system previously favoured by Capello, and saw Barry used with Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in a central midfield triumvirate, with youngsters Adam Johnson and Theo Walcott employed on the flanks.
With Steven Gerrard injured, Benitez had picked what appeared to be an attacking line-up with Bolo Zenden joining Alonso in midfield and Crouch partnering Bellamy up front.
Daniel Sturridge scored his third goal in as many games in Liverpool colors in the 59th minute with Steven Gerrard adding a fourth seven minutes later.
Defender Matthew Upson, who came in for the suspended Jamie Carragher and made several key interventions, concurred with Capello and Gerrard that the win had everything to do with the players' spirit.
Effectively Liverpool had an identity that could hold its own with Mr. Gerrard: anything he provided was gravy.
WSJ: Soccer 2010: Steven Gerrard's Best Position on Liverpool? Still a Mystery
In the English Premier League Tuesday, Liverpool beat Merseyside rivals Everton 3-0 with captain Steven Gerrard scoring a hat-trick.
The visitors were starting to look jaded, and Benitez replaced captain Gerrard with the pace of Ryan Babel on the hour.
The Reds started perfectly with a Steven Gerrard penalty on eight minutes after Lucas was felled by Adil Rami following a fine run past four players.
The Liverpool defence recovered from the initial shock and gradually started to pick up their men but little creatively was coming out of the midfield with captain Steven Gerrard having another indifferent game.
In addition, with Mr. Gerrard struggling in his quarterback-playmaker role, Mr. Hodgson filled his old position, behind the striker, with the newly-acquired Raul Meireles, who himself is more of a traditional box-to-box midfielder and unused to playing so far up.
WSJ: Soccer 2010: Steven Gerrard's Best Position on Liverpool? Still a Mystery
They will be led out in that match by Ferdinand, with Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard moving to vice-captain.
Liverpool are keen to partner Barry in midfield with England colleague Steven Gerrard.
The party had moved from a pub in Formby - near the home Gerrard shares with wife Alex Curran and his two children - to a club in Southport and then on to the Lounge Inn.
Nemanja Vidic - who is favourite to lift the trophy - Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand, Edwin van der Sar and last year's winner Cristiano Ronaldo are all in the running, along with Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard.
Gerrard appeared with six other men -- accused of being part of a group that injured businessman Marcus McGee, 34, in a nightclub fight in Southport -- a suburb of Liverpool -- in the early hours of December 29 last year.
Liverpool, with returning captain Steven Gerrard back in the side, were always in control against a disappointing Newcastle -- who have still to collect their first victory under temporary manager Alan Shearer -- and they took a deserved 22nd -minute lead through Yossi Benayoun.
Another section of the survey focused on national sporting heroes with Liverpool's Steven Gerrard topping that poll.
With Michael Owen sidelined, Gerrard was the man who stepped up to take the penalty and he drilled it home.
Frank Lampard's pass was out of Rooney's reach, but Heskey played in Gerrard to score with the outside of his right foot.
He was chatting with Peter Crouch and Stevie Gerrard as he arrived and he was happily kicking footballs as we watched from the sidelines.
But with captain and midfielder Steven Gerrard and striker Fernando Torres coming off injured during the Cup defeat, McAteer is fearful for the remainder of the campaign.
As Liverpool pressed even more, Gerrard went close with a drive, while Dirk Kuyt - not at his best throughout the evening - shot tamely.
As both teams came to grips with Wigan's relaid pitch it was Liverpool who started the brighter, their initial attacking strategy to bypass midfield with both Jamie Carragher and Gerrard launching passes to try and release Torres.
The experiment is still a work in progress, but a mixture of youth and experience came up trumps on Sunday as 22-year-old midfielder Jordan Henderson and veteran captain Steven Gerrard -- with a 60th-minute penalty after Luis Suarez was fouled -- replied with the goals that lifted seventh-placed Liverpool to within five points of European qualification.
Mr Gerrard had been drinking with friends in the early hours of 29 December last year to celebrate Liverpool's 5-1 win over Newcastle United.
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