“We were one of the first teams to play like that, I see similarities”
Liverpool’s new-look side currently sit atop the Premier League and appear to have recaptured the swagger which helped them last lift the title in 2019/20.
Just like Jurgen Klopp’s previous champions, whose victory ended a 30-year wait for a championship, the current Reds team have been lauded for their hard-running style and tactical discipline.
Yet many old enough to recall the club’s 2013/14 season will tell you that Liverpool were one of the best-pressing teams in England even before the German mastermind’s arrival. Glen Johnson, who was part of Brendan Rodgers’ team that came agonisingly close to winning the league that season, sees plenty of comparisons between the two sides.
“Yes, definitely, in terms of out-of-possession, pressing,” the former right-back tells FourFourTwo on behalf of Casinodays.com. “That suffocates teams and that’s what we were doing.”
Johnson even believes his old side were one of the frontrunners when it came to a tactical system which dominates the modern game.
“The only difference is that when we were doing it, there weren’t many other teams actually doing it,” continues the defender, who also starred for West Ham, Chelsea, Portsmouth and England during his playing days. “It was new at the time to press like that, winning the ball so high and scoring so early.
“That’s what Liverpool do now but so many other teams have latched onto that and they do the same thing. They just don’t have the players of Liverpool’s quality. When everyone is pressing and on it, trust me, it’s hard to play out from the back, no one wants the ball and you kill teams mentally. But I definitely see similarities.”
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