Chapter 494: The Prologue of the Goal Battle
Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, perhaps the least feared Manchester City team, have their own characteristics.
In the past, any team that met Manchester City would set their tactics around Manchester City, and set specific tactics according to Manchester City's personnel allocation, and would not follow their original style. Because in front of the mighty Manchester City, it seems that everything is a floating cloud.
But Liverpool didn't do that today, Klopp believes that Liverpool can't follow the rhythm of Manchester City, but should let Manchester City follow the rhythm of Liverpool.
So after the opening, Liverpool immediately launched a fast attack, and the whole team was running quickly, they wanted to give Manchester City a blitzkrieg, and they wanted to destroy Manchester City at the beginning.
Jurgen Klopp's idea was very good, but Pep Guardiola didn't get it.
He didn't let the team press up, but waited for Liverpool to attack.
Liverpool were not welcome, and soon surrounded them outside their big penalty area and began to bombard.
The Liverpool fans in the stands were quite excited, and the KOPs were frantically cheering for the home team. Seeing the current scene, it looks like Liverpool are nine out of ten at home.
If you weren't watching the game live, you would suspect that the current scene was fake, because Liverpool are pressing Manchester City, who have been showing weakness.
"Pep Guardiola is very low-key, he is playing defensive counter-attacks now, trying to catch Liverpool's loopholes, if it was last season, I believe he would not have played well, because he has never played defensive counter-attacks, but today is different, because there is a king in front of him, the king is standing there, once he gets the opportunity, he can deal a fatal blow to Liverpool."
"Liverpool have to be careful, but don't be happy. The two central defenders behind Wang are likely to have terrible consequences if someone is not focused, and of course Wang is not a god, and he may not be able to get rid of the ball. ”
'Pep Guardiola was clearly well prepared for the game and now they are being pressed and beaten, but only a little bit of thunder outside the box and Liverpool's attack is not enough to threaten their goal. At this time, just watch how Liverpool's forwards crack it. ”
The ball was at Salah's feet, Salah rushed left and right on the right side of the penalty area, and the defenders in Manchester City did not kick casually, still blocking him out of the big penalty area, no matter how awesome his skills were at his feet, and he could not do anything about Manchester City's defense.
Salah had no choice but to pass the ball out.
Then the ball was handed to the feet of captain Henderson, Henderson came directly to a 45-degree cross, but the ball was confiscated by Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson, Ederson threw the ball directly to Fernandez, he directly handed the ball to De Bruyne, De Bruyne directly made a long pass, directly to Wang Dalong.
Wang Dalong rushed up, but Liverpool's two defenders did a very good job and did not let Wang Dalong rush directly, judged the landing point of the ball in advance, and solved the crisis of this counterattack.
Judging from the way they broke the ball, the secret of their defense against Wang Dalong was to prevent Wang Dalong from getting the ball first in the high-altitude ball, which they did very well.
But if it's rolling the earth, can they still release Wang Dalong? This idea was thought up by De Bruyne, and just by passing such a kick, De Bruyne realized the problem and thought about it, this is the head of the world's top midfielder.
If you are a different player, you may still pass the ball with your head down. His mindset shifts very quickly, which is why he and Wang Dalong are the best matches, and they don't need to play many games together to understand.
However, now the ball is still at the feet of Liverpool, and Liverpool's attack is coming again, and their attack is also very concise, and it is not muddy at all.
The ball went straight to the feet of Henderson, who was still the pivot of their transition between attack and defence, and this time Henderson handed the ball directly to Mane on the left, who was even a little faster than Manchester City's Leroy Sane and more physically strong.
This guy is very confident, suddenly rushed to the bottom line of the Manchester City team, and then raised his head to dunk the ball past Manchester City's right-back, and then directly knocked on the middle, Henderson is like flying, since the first time will appear in front of the big penalty area, he shoots angrily at the ball during the run. The roaring ball directly tested Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson, who did not dare to be careless and lifted the ball out of the bottom line with one hand.
Corner kick!
Liverpool is almost all pressed!
Only two defenders were left behind.
Wang Dalong walked back, he didn't want City to concede in a corner.
Henderson drove the ball straight out of the box and City was in chaos in the box, which was eventually cleared by a header from left-back Walker.
Wang Dalong hurriedly called to answer, but he didn't expect Liverpool's ace Salah to also run over. It's just that he got the ball first, Salah saved it, but he didn't shake it off.
Salah is very playful, tightly entangled with Wang Dalong, like a very good defender, Wang Dalong believes that if the short Salah is a defender, he can also do quite well.
If he's fast enough, he'll be even better.
But Wang Dalong didn't entangle with him, in the struggle between the two people, he quickly kicked out after turning around, and directly sent the ball forward.
Liverpool had to be fast, and so had Manchester City, the ball he sent straight to Gabriel Jesus, who rushed forward, but was finally brought down by Liverpool's right-back, and City's counter-attack was terminated, and the attack was interrupted only at half-time.
It looks like Liverpool are quite resolute defensively.
As a last resort, Manchester City had to switch to ground attack, but the pace could not be improved because all the Liverpool players were back.
A little depressed, when Wang Dalong rushed to the front, although the Manchester City team still held the ball, but the ball had been handed over to the backfield.
And this time, Manchester City's ball was lost again, but it was shoveled out of the sideline, and it seems that Liverpool is doing everything possible to make Manchester City's fast attack unable to play through fouls or tackles.
It's definitely frustrating, Jurgen Klopp's players are too resolute and their tactical execution is quite strong.
This is something that Manchester City players do not have, because Manchester City players have never received such instructions from Pep Guardiola.
And Manchester City don't need to do that.
When kick-off was restarted, Manchester City's advance was still not fast enough.
Pep Guardiola was in a bit of a hurry, and he walked around as if looking for a new tactic. Jurgen Klopp's tactics were so brutal that from the moment they entered the game, City's players were not adaptable.
He doesn't want to play as fast as Liverpool because it follows Liverpool's pace. But if you don't bring up the speed now, it's actually following the rhythm of Liverpool, and it's even worse.
So in the end, he chose to pull up the speed, did he pull Silva next to him, let Silva convey his new instructions, and raise the speed of the game.
Then City's midfield was like a speeding part, starting to make the pass faster and faster.
Wang Dalong is also aware of this problem, he runs faster, every run, he can instantly get rid of the defense behind him, but his teammates are still not on the same beat as him, he needs De Bruyne's support, only De Bruyne's pass is suitable for his running.
So he was moving closer to the right, but De Bruyne was flanked by two players, always trying to intercept and cut off De Bruyne's path to receive and get the ball out.
It seems that Klopp knows the two of them well and has set up their tactics in detail, Klopp is strong in this place, he will never follow the trend, but he is very detailed and has his own ideas.
"Haha, good job, that's it."
'As long as these two guys don't get the ball, then City's threat drops by more than half. Liverpool will soon take the lead if they take their chances. ”
"If necessary, you can intensify the aggression against the two of them, so that their attack will be even more miserable."
In the stands, Liverpool fans were talking a lot, and it seemed that they had seen the hope of victory, but they forgot that this Manchester City team is not only Wang Dalong and De Bruyne's Manchester City, but the other players of Manchester City can also stand up.
The one I stood up for was Silva. Many people may have forgotten Silva's individual contribution last season, and although De Bruyne was very impressive last season, it was Silva's role that was the greatest.
So when I saw De Bruyne and Wang Dalong being seen dead by each other, it was time for Silva to shine.
Manchester City's attack does not have to revolve around Wang Dalong and De Bruyne, Silva simply takes the ball and then goes straight through, Sane and Jesus will always find opportunities.
In the 14th minute, Silva got the ball in front of the field, and then stuffed the ball directly to Sane on the right, Sane successfully countered offside, and then passed the ball directly in front of the goal, Jesus put the ball in with his belly.
Manchester City took the lead 1-0 on the road.
The goal left Anfield Stadium silent, with an excited Gabriel Jesus running to celebrate in front of the KOP fans rather than the Manchester City fans.
This provocative celebration instantly caused dissatisfaction among KOB fans, and there was a lot of scolding outside the stadium, and they wanted to kill Jesus.
When everyone was focusing on Wang Dalong, they didn't expect the small supporting actor Jesus to score first.
Football is like that, often when you focus on the big stars, the supporting players are highlight.
Although Jesus is not a small supporting role, he is really nothing in front of Wang Dalong.
That's what Jurgen Klopp is worried about, because the rest of City's players are doing well. Now the facts tell him that the game is far from that simple.
"Well done, if Manchester City continue to play like this, there is almost no suspense about winning, Liverpool have no chance." Seeing Manchester City's goal, Owen rarely said a few words, "There is actually a big gap in strength, although Liverpool was the runner-up in Europe last season, but in front of Manchester City, they are still a lot worse." ”
"Michael, which side are you on? Have you forgotten that Liverpool played Manchester City last season without a temper? Lineker blinked, looked at Owen with some surprise, what do you think, Owen should be on Liverpool's side, how can he be on Manchester City's side, I don't understand.
"I just analyzed this game realistically, Liverpool does have a gap with Manchester City, don't you see it, even if Liverpool's players see the Chinese king and De Bruyne to death, but they can't defend the whole Manchester City, the Manchester City team can bloom more, which is very different from Liverpool, Liverpool relies on the trident, and Manchester City can not rely on them." Owen tried to analyze calmly.
That's what he sees, he thinks Manchester City and Liverpool are not in the same class at all, Manchester City are too much higher.
'Silva didn't think about the two of them at all when he was attacking, he was just going to work with the others to create chances. Even if he ignored the two of them, it was definitely a tactical application. ”
"Is that really the case? If that's the case, Michael, you can go and be a head coach, why don't you go and get a coaching certificate? Lineke was surprised by Owen's comments, but he didn't expect Owen's analysis to be so thorough, and he hit the nail on the head and made sense of it.
"If you look at it, the first half of the game will be 2-0, there will be no suspense at all." Owen added.
But before he could speak, Liverpool made a long pass directly at the back, and the ball went straight to Firmino in the front.
Roberto Firmino's header down the middle was flicked to a speedy Mane, who swept the middle with his left foot on the left, and Mohamed Salah followed up on the right to slotte the ball directly into the far corner with his right foot.
The score was equalised.
And my face immediately turned bad......
This forced pretending can only give zero points...... Without saying a few words, Liverpool equalised, which was certainly not the result he hoped to see.
The stadium was back in the hustle and bustle, and the Liverpool fans were singing again, a stadium that was forever lacking in silence and there were few games that could silence them in a year, though not now.
The two sides are only now starting to kick off the scoring curve.
Both teams scored, but neither slowed down the attack.
Wang Dalong definitely wouldn't want to be a spectator.
After the restart, he immediately pushed forward, and after receiving a pass from Silva in the middle, he dribbled directly through the crotch of Henderson, and then stuffed the ball to Jesus, who directly reversed the triangle and knocked the ball back to Wang Dalong's feet.
Wang Dalong continued to change direction in front of the big penalty area to pull the ball, but still did not change the defensive state in front of him, Liverpool's defense was still not chaotic, but his foot action still did not stop, and he continued to take the ball to the middle of the big penalty area.
In the face of Liverpool's two central defenders, they still chose to pass, but the pass was very secretive, the ball went through the crotch and flew into the left side of the penalty area, Jesus rushed to the ball and slid it away.
Just a minute later, City took the lead again.
"I'll just say it......"