Almost two years of fine-tuning and guiding the Liverpool squad has now brought Brendan Rodgers to the stage where his subtle changes are instantly understood and carried out by the players.

The Northern Irishman has overseen an eight-match winning streak since Arsenal were summarily picked apart on February 8 - a run which has catapulted the Reds top of the Barclays Premier League.

Rodgers' starting XI and team shape has altered regularly this season, with a hitherto unseen diamond formation introduced when Southampton were downed at the beginning of March.

Most recently, the boss reverted to 4-3-3 on Sunday to record a handsome 4-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur, his side's third fixture in eight busy days after wins against Cardiff City and Sunderland.

He commented on Friday: "The structure of the team is good, we're flexible tactically so when I change they understand their job exactly.

"The style remains the same whatever system we play - it's to play with dominance and they have certainly shown that. I've talked before about the nature of our game.

"The nature of our game is to deal with the ball. It's easy to coach a team to sit back, all in one half of the field, and to not play with the ball.

"The hard thing and the thing that we found difficult at the beginning of my time here was to keep encouraging players, when they make a mistake, to let it go; just to keep playing and get on the ball.

"We play as a team. You see the confidence in the players - they have belief in how they're working, which is important, and belief that they can win big games.

"That gives them that extra bit of confidence going into football matches and they have got their rewards for it. But it has not been just this season, it was the second half of last season.

"We've had momentum for a little bit of time now and that will hopefully continue."

Watch the video here »

Rodgers and his players entered the Anfield clash with Spurs knowing that a draw or better would be enough for the Reds to rise to the Premier League summit with six games remaining.

With West Ham United next on the agenda this Sunday, reporters at the manager's pre-match press conference referenced the apparent calmness under pressure being shown by his squad.

He continued: "It's something that I'm witnessing - I'm not surprised by that. The idea for us to play how we play is in order to take the pressure off the players.

"They need to focus on the football, they need to focus on their technique and they need to focus on performance. That removes the pressures of having to win, because we know that when we play like we've played, we will win games.

"The tenacity of the team to press - and work, first and foremost - is there. They are all very competitive at the moment as well."