England won't look like Liverpool any time soon (ESPN article)

by Dave Usher for ESPN

One of the things Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has always been most passionate and outspoken about is the ability of British players to play football with the same kind of swagger and technique as the continentals. While many coaches, especially at youth level, shy away from such crazy notions and encourage young British players to "play to their strengths" (which usually involves lots of running around, tackling and playing balls into channels), Rodgers has been steadfast in his beliefs to the contrary and this season he has proved that English players can dazzle with the best of them.

Rodgers has long believed that British players have the technique to play the same kind of attractive, technical football that has been the hallmark of the best continental sides over the years, and he's put those beliefs into practice wherever he has been, most notably at Liverpool where his vibrant young side are playing football that is as pleasing on the eye as anything Europe has to offer. Significantly, he has done it with a core of English players. Six of them to be exact: Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Jon Flanagan, Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge. There's also the Welshman, Joe Allen of course, a midfield player very much in the "continental" mould.

This has prompted plenty of media debate recently as to whether England boss Roy Hodgson should utilise that to his and the nation's advantage at this summer's World Cup in Brazil. After all, every major international tournament ends the same way for England: plenty of huff and puff, lots of "bulldog spirit" but an inevitable exit as soon as they come up against any half decent opponent who can keep the ball for more than 10 seconds at a time. Then follows the national inquest that invariably draws the conclusion that England's players lack the technique of other nations and they should therefore stop trying to "beat them at their own game" and "play to their strengths".

It is this kind of attitude that Rodgers has been railing against ever since he first started out on his "coaching journey" 20 years ago and what he's done at Liverpool this season may have opened the eyes of a lot of England football supporters as to what English players can do. Build an England team around this core of Liverpool players and they'll automatically play like Liverpool, right? I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

Well, Hodgson for a start. Liverpool fans have seen at first hand the kind of football played by Hodgson and it's as far removed from the Rodgers way as it's possible to be. In fact, it's bordering on being a different sport entirely. "Hodgeball" and "Rodgeball" may sound alike, but that’s where any similarities end unfortunately for followers of the English national side.

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