Liverpool Anfield.

In the 31st round of the Premier League, Liverpool hosted Arsenal.

Liverpool made changes to their starting line-up due to the Champions League in midweek.

The goalkeeper was Reina, the backline was Aurelio, Daniel Agger, Carragher and Arbeloa, the midfield was followed by Xavi Alonso and Mascherano, Gerrard stepped forward, and the front trident was Yang Yang, Crouch and Pennant.

A number of players, including Kuyt, who have played several games in a row, have been put on the bench by Benitez.

Arsenal's starting line-up is still 442.

The goalkeeper is German veteran Lehmann, with Klich, Gallas, Kolo Toure and Ebouee at the back, Hleb, Denilson, Cesc Fabregas and Diaby in midfield, and Baptista and Adebayor in the front.

Both teams know each other very well, they know each other well, and there are no secrets to tell.

Arsenal kicked off the game first, but Liverpool pressed hard from the start.

Mascherano was extremely active from the start of the game, stealing a pass from Arsenal and passing it to Steven Gerrard in front, who shot straight from distance.

A shot from a heavy gun thirty meters away, but it was a little off.

At this point, just twenty-eight seconds into the game, Liverpool had their first shot on goal.

Yang Yang spread his hands towards Gerald a little speechlessly, as if to say, why are you in such a hurry?

Pass the ball!

Gerald scratched his head and ran back as if he were a faceless.

He didn't watch Yang Yang play Barcelona when he shocked the opponent with a heavy kick at the beginning and won unanimous praise after the game, so he wanted to learn from him, and he had a rare opportunity, of course, he just started to play.

But I didn't hit the right part, it's too biased!

Where did everyone in Liverpool not guess Gerrard's mind?

……

Although the first shot on goal did not threaten, Liverpool's attack went well.

After just four minutes, Arbeloa cut in quickly and combined with Pennant on the right flank, and the Spanish right wing-back crossed into the box, where Crouch used his body to block Kolo Toure and slotted home from close range.

1 to 0!

It's a bit too simplistic.

Crouch was so excited that he ran to the sidelines and danced a mechanical dance to celebrate his goal.

The guy who is more than two meters tall can deal with Arsenal's two central defenders who are about 1.8 meters tall......

That scene simply made Yang Yang a little unbearable to look at it directly.

……

After taking the lead, Liverpool continued to keep the pressure on Arsenal, but the Gunners were not the masters of domination, and soon threatened, but they were never able to break through Liverpool's midfield press.

In the 35th minute, Aurelio inserted the ball, Yang Yang quickly cut inside, attracted Eboue, and knocked Aurelio's pass back to the bottom line, forming a beautiful two-over-one.

Aurelio stepped forward decisively and crossed from the left side of the penalty area, which Crouch headed home from close range to score again.

Two to zero!

Crouch scored a brace, and immediately rushed to the sidelines excitedly, and once again danced the mechanical dance, looking extremely excited, and it was clear that the two short central defenders who abused Arsenal were really enjoyable.

……

Yang Yang played a very relaxed game because Liverpool was completely in control of the situation.

And he scored early.

In this case, it is naturally impossible for him to go all out to fight to the death.

Rational distribution of one's physical strength is also a discipline of professional footballers.

……

Liverpool's strong dominance on the pitch comes from the excellent performances of several rotation players.

Mascherano and Xavi Alonso combined for 22 tackles in the first half, the highest in the Premier League this season, and Mascherano in particular was extremely impressive.

What's more, the Argentine midfielder is not the kind of ball-grabbing machine, he has a very consistent passing and ball ability.

At half-time, Benitez also gave a very high evaluation of the performance of the Liverpool players, believing that the team should continue to work hard and try to defeat Arsenal at home and severely demoralize the opponent.

And after the rematch in the second half, Liverpool's performance did not decline at all.

In the 60th minute, just before Yang Yang was substituted, Aurelio took advantage of a set-piece opportunity in front of the field to assist Daniel Agger to score again.

Then in the 73rd minute, Arsenal scored from a corner, but Liverpool soon came on in the 81st minute, and substitute Kuyt also set up Crouch to score.

In the end, Liverpool defeated the Gunners 4-1 at home and won a hearty victory.

……

After the game, Liverpool's performance was unanimously affirmed by Fleet Street.

According to The Times, Liverpool did not give their best in this game, because Yang Yang, Gerrard and Xavi Alonso did not show their best form, and even after the game was established early, these players played a little relaxed.

'It was clearly at the behest of manager Rafael Benitez because the team is next up against Roma.

The winner of the best player this season was Crouch, who scored a hat-trick, which was the first hat-trick of England's career, and was unanimously affirmed and appreciated after the game.

But the biggest surprise in the Fleet Street media was Liverpool's bench players.

Aurelio provided two assists, one for Crouch and one for Daniel Ager, and his solid defence on the left flank and his attacking impress, were once again unanimously recognized by the media.

Arbeloa's performance on the right side was also not far behind, especially the assist for Crouch's first goal, and he had a continuous combination with Pennant before, which was very exciting.

But it was Argentine midfielder Mascherano who really impressed.

According to The Times, "Mascherano was a shrewd hound in midfield, with no secret nose for Cesc Fabregas and Denilson, and a great running ability, who was almost everywhere and kept chasing the ball throughout the game." ”

The Liverpool Echo also spoke highly of Mascherano's performance, believing that in addition to his excellent possession, tackles and counter-tackles, he was also quite good at passing, and was able to actively run to assist his teammates and find better passing lanes. ”

The Telegraph believes that Mascherano is a rare talent in midfield, "His combination with Xavi Alonso was particularly impressive tonight at the level of Europe's top double midfielder. ”

So far, Mascherano has played two Premier League games for Liverpool, and the results have been perfect.

This also reassured many fans and media who were skeptical of the Argentine midfielder before.

In an interview with Liverpool's official website after the game, Mascherano said that he was very grateful for the trust of manager Rafael Benitez, "He personally met me at the London docks and persuaded me to join Liverpool, he gave me hope at the lowest point in my life. ”

Mascherano also mentioned what happened after he joined Liverpool, especially teammate Yang Yang.

'He's an incredible player, he's always been unbelievable on the pitch, but the most important thing for me is that he's a pretty admirable team-mate in the dressing room and he's given me a lot of help and advice, especially when I'm not playing.

'After only half the game, he told me in the dressing room that after tonight's game I would be the favourite of Liverpool fans, which gave me more confidence and fighting spirit in the second half and I wanted to help Liverpool win more.

……

Although Yang Yang did not perform very well in this 4-1 game, the media did not make any accusations against Yang Yang, but many media outlets, including The Times and The Daily Telegraph, took the initiative to defend him.

According to The Times, "Yang Yang obviously focused all his attention on how to help his teammates score goals, which made him forget to help himself score a goal!" ”

The Daily Telegraph joked: "Yang Yang should like to watch Crouch dance!" ”

And the Sun newspaper is somewhat conspiracy theory, "Yang Yang has scored 21 goals, but after several rounds, neither Drogba nor Cristiano Ronaldo has shown signs of being able to catch up with Yang Yang, which makes him lose his desire to score goals and start helping his teammates score goals." ”

Some other tabloids believe that the reason why Yang Yang did not score was because Crouch scored a hat-trick, and the two players could not get along at all.

But soon, Crouch said in an interview with Liverpool's official website, "I have more and more tacit understanding with Yang Yang, he is a very good teammate, even if he doesn't score, he can contribute to the team." ”

"Top scorer? No, no, no, I never wanted to fight him, I couldn't compete with him, I don't think it's hard for him to score 25 goals this season, and I and everyone else will do everything we can to help him achieve his goals. ”

Crouch's statement obviously once again proved to everyone the atmosphere of unity within Liverpool and the positive interaction between him and Yang Yang.

If at the beginning of Yang Yang's joining, he was more or less still a little bit of the idea of competing with Yang Yang to compete for the team's top scorer, then now, especially after the game against Barcelona, he has completely lost this idea.

The reason is very simple, he realized that no matter how much he fights, he can't compete with Yang Yang.

Even if he scored a hat-trick against Arsenal, in fact, the second goal came from Yang Yang's planned attack, and the third goal was also created by Yang Yang.

It can be said that it was Yang Yang who fulfilled his hat trick.

Crouch himself knows this, and he also understands that Yang Yang has been releasing kindness.

More importantly, he is very sure that when he and Yang Yang are not compatible, Liverpool will only make one choice, that is, sell him and buy a center forward who can cooperate with Yang Yang.

Therefore, no matter what the reason, he can only choose to cooperate.