High pressing: Can England implement what has been key to both Southampton's and Liverpool's form?

Liverpool and their ascent under Rodgers

Another team that employs a high pressing strategy in the Premier League is Liverpool who have also surprised one and all by climbing to the second place in the Premier League with 10 matches to go. Everton, Arsenal and Tottenham have already been decimated this term by Liverpool’s high pressing game. Combine this pressing technique with the in- form SAS, the highest scoring duo in the Premier League, and the opposition are bound to be in trouble.

When Rodgers first came to Liverpool, he talked about bringing about a tiki-taka revolution whose main principle was to win the ball back within the first 7 seconds of conceding possession. Many of the fans were initially a bit pessimistic about Rodgers’ lofty claims due to Gerrard’s ageing legs, Lucas’ lack of mobility and Suarez’s tendency to lose possession time and again.

Sterling and Henderson: Rodgers’ torch bearers

Credit must go to Rodgers though for identifying the perfect formation for Liverpool which has facilitated the use of this high pressing strategy and so enabled them to cement their position in the top four. The rise of Sterling and Henderson has been meteoric mainly due to their ability to take Rodgers’ plan on board. Sterling leads the Premier League in ball recoveries in the final third this season while Henderson has been an ever present in the Liverpool starting line-up due to his relentless pressing without the ball which has helped Liverpool put the opposition on the backfoot on more than one occasion.

High pressing for England?

Time for Hodgson to instill a high pressing philosophy?

Hodgson’s latest English squad comprises of 9 players from Southampton and Liverpool. Add Rooney, Wilshere, Baines, Hart, Cahill and Jagielka to the fold and Hodgson has the perfect squad to spring up a surprise in the World Cup in Brazil with a slight change of tactics. He just has to look at the relative success that both Liverpool and Southampton have achieved inspite of inferior squads as compared to their opponents this season in the Premier League.

Barcelona’s philosophy has played a major role in Spain’s success and Bayern Munich’s philosophy has also greatly transformed Germany’s fortunes. Hodgson already has 15 players from Arsenal, Liverpool, Southampton and Everton who are comfortable with the ball at their feet in tight areas and 9 of them are already accustomed to a high pressing game. Now is the time for Hodgson to adopt a slightly more attacking approach to the game and maybe, just maybe, get the World Cup back to England or at the very least put up a respectable performance.