Millwall had a number of substitutes, and the squad could not be compared with Liverpool, even if they played at home, the overall situation was still suppressed by Liverpool.

In terms of the overall situation, in terms of the game alone, Millwall still have an attack.

Jody Morris started the game.

Under Morris's guidance, Millwall occasionally played forwards, but most of the time, it was difficult for the ball to get to the penalty area, and Liverpool were tight on the edge of the box.

Millwall's attacks again and again are difficult to hit key positions, and it is even more difficult to threaten the Liverpool goal.

Zhang Yang has been watching Liverpool's defence.

The two teams have also played each other before, that was at Anfield Stadium, Millwall was passive throughout the game, or relied on the supernatural ability to 'walk the talk' to bring goals, to be able to turn the tide and win against Liverpool.

Millwall were not well prepared for that game, with Millwall being passive most of the time and the coaching staff having no direct experience of Liverpool's defence.

Now is the opportunity.

In the game that happened in front of him, it is the most illustrative that Zhang Yang chose to send most of the substitutes, in fact, he also has a certain idea, that is, to let the substitute lineup to 'test' Liverpool's defense, the main lineup will definitely be better, but it will also expose its own strength to the opponent.

The current game can also be said to be Millwall's preparation for the FA Cup final.

Soon half of the game passed.

Zhang Yang carefully observes the game, especially when Liverpool defends, the movement of each player, and the first reaction of the defense, the latter is not noticed in the video, but the reaction of the players is actually very important, which can reflect the habits of a team, the defensive players, and the 'attention' of a team's defense in each position.

After half-time observations, Zhang Yang came to some conclusions, such as Liverpool's defense in the middle, the most important of which are two players: Gerrard and Hyypia.

If the outside media analyzes, the most important for Liverpool is undoubtedly Gerrard and Carragher, Carragher is the main midfielder, and is also considered an important barrier for Liverpool's defense.

But that's not what Liverpool have shown otherwise.

Carragher has a strong defensive ability and a large range of running, but he is a 'Livermore type' player, constantly running, defending, and filling in positions, relying only on physical strength and hard work, rather than relying on the mind.

Gerrard is at the core.

The defense of the backfield mainly revolves around Hyypia, Hyypia is a veteran, most of the time he doesn't run much, but Hyypia's point is the most difficult to break through, whether it is Carragher, Alonso, or Riser on the side, when he arrives in the backfield, he is constantly running around Hyypia, several people will form an arc-shaped position, Hyypia is the core, the dot, whenever a position is needed, Hyypia will run to make up for the defense.

Hyypia usually has no defensive tasks, he rarely marks people alone, but with an excellent overall view, he has become the soul of the backcourt defense.

Midfielder Steven Gerrard needless to say.

Gerrard is almost an all-rounder, running all over the field, not only relying on physical fitness and technique, but also always in key positions in defence.

Steven Gerrard and Hyypia supported Liverpool's goalmouth defence and were a big part of Liverpool's solid defence.

In contrast, the defense of the two wings is much looser, most of them still rely on the play of the side players, but in terms of defense, the middle is much more important than the wing, because if you want to shoot, the football will always pass to the middle, and few players will start from the side, so the difficulty of scoring is too high.

This finding is significant.

Zhang Yang increased his understanding of Liverpool's defense and began to think about ways to crack it.

That's not easy.

Zhang Yang quickly thought of last year's Champions League final, the match between AC Milan and Liverpool, which was a classic battle worth recalling for decades, and AC Milan's three goals in the first half seemed to be to set off Liverpool's six-minute play in the second half.

But realistically, AC Milan was very successful in breaking Liverpool's defence, otherwise it would not have been possible to score three goals.

What does AC Milan rely on?

The smooth coordination of the world's top giants and the individual performance of the players.

The answer is simple.

However, the simple answer is not what Zhang Yang wants, because the smooth coordination of the giants and the ability of the world's top stars are what Millwall lacks, and if they have these two points, they don't have to think about how to break Liverpool's defense.

Millwall could only play targeted attacks.

Gerrard is very critical, he is a character who must be blocked, and in terms of offense, it is best to try to use cooperation and bypass Gerrard.

In addition, the side should be played actively.

Liverpool don't have much restriction on the wings, perhaps because of the limited ability of the players on the wings, Millwall can use this to focus on the two wings, look for opportunities from the wings, and then cross the middle to tear down Liverpool's solid defence.

In addition, it is important to bring out the individual abilities of the players.

Whether it's Darren Bent, Josh Simpson, or David Livermore, as long as they are given the opportunity to play, maybe it will lead directly to the goal.

It also confirms that stars are important.

Capable stars, individual play is enough to decide the outcome of the game, Millwall's stars are not as good as the giants, but they all have their own characteristics, and if they can play out, they have a great chance of scoring.

This is also difficult for Liverpool to restrict, because the defensive line is solid, and it is only an overall tactic, and the individual defense still depends on the on-the-spot performance.

————

There were 90 minutes in a game, and Zhang Yang watched the whole process carefully.

He rarely takes it so seriously.

Even in a game that Millwall was serious about, Zhang Yang spent a lot of time thinking about tactics rather than watching the game carefully, because 'foresight' allowed him to know what was going to happen next.

The difference with other games is that Zhang Yang did not interfere in the game, except for the two substitutions 'for medals' in the second half, he did not even explain to the players.

In the end, Millwall lost 1-0 to Liverpool.

The result of the game also made Zhang Yang breathe a sigh of relief, because Liverpool only scored one goal, which also proved that their attacking ability is indeed not strong, and the only goal came from Gerrard's long-range shot, and they don't know what their strikers are doing.

After the match, Zhang Yang shook hands with Benitez and said with a smile, "Congratulations on your victory, but this is not the last game, next time it will be your turn to congratulate us." ”

The flamboyant tone is flat, but there is something provocative.

Benitez's reaction was unexpected, he brushed his hair with his hand, and wondered with a puzzled expression, "Congratulations to us?" Why? You've only sent out a bench. ”

“……？”

Zhang Yang's brain circuit can't keep up, is it possible that the Spaniard in front of him doesn't know that the focus of the words is behind?

Looking at Benitez with a serious expression, Zhang Yang decided not to worry about the nerd, otherwise he would definitely be the one who suffered, he shrugged his shoulders, "Okay, then that's it." ”

Zhang Yang was about to turn around and leave.

Benitez suddenly said, "By the way, I haven't thanked you yet, otherwise we wouldn't have won easily." Fourth in the league, you know, very important for us. ”

“……”

Zhang Yang was helpless again, thinking that if he didn't talk to this guy more, otherwise he would be very angry, the key is that the other party still has a serious attitude, it seems that what he said is from the heart?

After Benitez left, Zhang Yang kept staring at his back, thinking about a question, "Is this guy really playing with me?" ”

"Maybe I've been tricked?"

"Or maybe that's the kind of person he is?"

"Okay......"

Zhang Yang understands why the coaches of the top four teams in the Premier League, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, and the other three teams frequently appear in the media, only Benitez has a low photogenic rate, and probably reporters are also worried about him, right?

————

After the game, the media coverage was full of criticism.

Perhaps because Millwall were too strong, winning the league title three rounds ahead of schedule and about to compete with Liverpool for the FA Cup, the media had high hopes for the game, and they were reporting around the 'FA Cup final preview'.

The result?

Millwall sent a large number of substitute players, and the main players were only two or three, and they didn't care about the outcome of the game at all, and the media criticized, "Millwall has no spirit of fair play!" ”

"They gave up the game and made the fight for fourth place in the league unfair!"

"Arsenal and Tottenham had a chance to overtake Liverpool!"

"Millwall has given Liverpool a big gift! Benitez smiled after the game......"

The above statement is still relatively good, and some media that support Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur even said, "Zhang Yang will let the team 'release water' in the game because of his personal friendship with Benitez." ”

"Millwall's approach is tantamount to collaborating with the enemy!"

"Millwall, fellow London team, should help Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur and try to beat Liverpool resolutely!"

“……”

The media almost said, "The London team should be friendly and mutually supportive." ”

These reports made Zhang Yang feel a little funny.

Also a 'London team'?

Why don't you say it's also an 'English team'?

There is no friendship between the London team and the London team, some are just competition, just like the relationship between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, it is an absolute rivalry, and there will definitely be no friendship.

Millwall and Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham Hotspur, and every London team are in competition, and the hostility of competition is much higher than that of teams in other regions, because there is also a need to consider the problem of fan coverage, there is a London team to support Arsenal, Chelsea, there will be one less London fan to support Millwall, the same London team, the repetition of the area where the fans are located, is more related to the development of a club.

This is not the case with teams from other regions, such as Manchester Region, where it is almost impossible to support a London team, and London fans will not support a northern team.

That's the problem.

The 'London team' is friendly with each other, almost equivalent to nonsense.

Of course, there are also media who understand Millwall's approach, just like the BBC TV report, "In the last round, Liverpool beat Millwall away by a small margin, and the starting lineup of the game can be seen that Millwall is not ready for the game, they only use the game as a training ground." But this is understandable, after all, they have already won the league title, and the next three games are meaningless. ”

Telesports also expressed their support for Millwall, who are favoured to beat Liverpool in the FA Cup final, "Liverpool have only scored a goal against Millwall's bench. When it comes to the FA Cup final, will Liverpool still have a chance to win? " indicates

Some neutral media outlets said, "Maybe we can just look forward to the FA Cup final, and Millwall won't be serious about the next two games." They are all about preparing for the FA Cup! ”

That's the solid conclusion.

Millwall were so preoccupied with the FA Cup that they didn't care about the league at all, and by the next day, the coaching staff and players were watching Liverpool's videos together.

This is a must-do preparation every day.

The whole Millwall team watches a video of a Liverpool game every day, and they watch it differently from the fans, and they watch it from a professional eye and a classified perspective.

For example, a full-back player should carefully look at Liverpool's wide defense and attack, analyze the movement of the wide players and the filling positions of the central players.

The central players have to look at the big picture.

The goalkeeper will have to analyse the shooting patterns of each Liverpool player, as well as take the summarized data to understand the shooting habits of the Liverpool players and where those players are threatening.

Wait a minute.

Watching the game from this unique perspective will help the team get to know Liverpool better.

Millwall have a big advantage because their league ended early and they had plenty of time to prepare, while their opponents, Liverpool, would have to work hard to secure a league position, which was even more important than competing for the FA Cup.

If you have enough time, you will have enough preparation.

For Millwall, the remaining two league games are completely chicken, and of course the same cannot be said, the coaching staff see the game as a place to keep the players in shape and get familiar with the feeling of the game.

On 2 May, Millwall drew 2-2 at Middlesbrough.

On May 7, in the final round of the league, Millwall hosted Tottenham Hotspur, and the final score was 5-3, and Millwall won.

5 to 3, the big score illustrates the intensity of the game.

The Millwall coaching staff took the game very seriously, not necessarily to win against Tottenham Hotspur, but to keep all the key players in shape and let them find the feeling of scoring goals.

That might make Tottenham feel bad.

They were hoping to secure their last win, and if God helped, they might have been able to overtake Liverpool, who are only two points separating them from Liverpool and have an advantage on goal difference.

But in the end, Tottenham lost the game.

Tottenham Hotspur coach Joel pointed out with admiration, "After a season, Millwall has grown a lot. They're league winners, I shouldn't have said that, but they're a lot better than they were at the start of the season. ”