It's just an ordinary high-post pressing plus a man-to-man defense in key positions, because of the difference in the ability and attitude of the executor, which reflects a surprising difference.

Li Liang hadn't seen this form of defense in a game, but for the first time, he experienced the tremendous pressure that comes with his amazing concentration.

Pochettino said to his players after making changes to his starting line-up: "I don't need to say much about Monaco's quality – my request to you is simple, treat them like Chelsea and Manchester City!

The number 17 is a very dangerous player and we can't afford to take him lightly.

We're going to defend him like Christian [Eriksen], Eric [Lamela]! ”

Pochettino has made a big change compared to the first home game against Monaco, when he believed that the team's overall defence was enough to limit Li Liang's self-confidence.

This change is vividly reflected in his players on the field, especially Dembele, Wanyama and Wiggins, who are responsible for taking care of Li Liang.

Dembele, who said that he wanted to take away the victory from Li Liang, was particularly positive when he entered the stadium.

He, like everyone else, knows very well why the coach wanted Vertonghen to be removed from the starting line-up.

His compatriot and international team-mate are recovering from a long injury, and Pochettino must be reluctant to let Vertonghen face Li Liang, who had beaten him at New Wembley, in the first game of his comeback, so he would rather let Vermel start and partner Dier at centre-back.

Dembele doesn't believe the No.17 can match the level of Eriksen or Lamela, but he doesn't take his opponents lightly at all.

With an overall rating of 82 and a height of 1.85m, Dembele, who has been in the Premier League for seven seasons, has gone head-to-head with many of the top midfield attackers.

Dembele, who usually has a strong body and excellent foot skills, has always managed to dominate one-on-one in most cases, and Li Liang is no exception.

His partner, Kenyan Wanyama, is stronger but slower, so Pochettino put Wanyama more in charge of defending the front of the box, giving Dembele, who is a first-class player, more freedom.

With the experience of the last game, Dembele and Wanyama, as well as the rest of Tottenham's players, paid great attention to the coordinated defense of Li Liang.

Even if Dembele, who has an obvious advantage in strength, stepped forward to defend Li Liang, the nearest teammates always kept a close distance from him to guard against Li Liang's breakthrough.

Li Liang's first attempt to get close to the defensive zone of Dembele and Wanyama was a complete failure to pull between them and the two centre-backs according to the pre-match arrangement.

Fabinho gave him a straight ball at his feet in the midfield, and Dembele simply completed the grab from behind him, and Li Liang was squeezed aside by the strong Dembele without even touching the ball.

He couldn't believe that the results of his special training were so unbearable in front of Tottenham?

Obviously, he has made a back-to-back ball protection action with all his might, or was Dembele completed the ball in an instant?!

Monaco defended Tottenham's counter-attack, Jemelson kicked the ball out, Li Liang quickly rushed to the landing point, and Ali jumped close to him at the same time.

Li Liang, who went all out, couldn't get past Ali, who is 1.88m tall, and he was knocked to the ground by the young England international.

The referee awarded Ali's foul, and Fabinho stepped forward to take a quick free kick, but helplessly found Li Liang still lying on the ground.

The game was suspended and the team doctor Parker came in, followed by Spinoli.

Parker checked it out, and it was fine. Li Liang was hit too hard in the air, and he felt much better after turning it upside down and doing a few stretches in one breath.

He was temporarily out of the pitch with Parker and Spinoli, and as he walked, he asked Spinioli: "Carlo, did my training sessions with them (Tottenham players) not work?" ”

Spinoli smiled: "Lee, you can't say that, if it was you in the past, you might have to be replaced in these few confrontations!" ”

Li Liang was gulping water on the sidelines, and Spinoli's words made him suddenly brightened.

He suddenly understood that his opponents had used all their strength, and his own confrontation ability had reached a new level.

Tottenham did not have the same blind confidence as the English media, they lowered their posture to recognise Monaco's strong quality, and played with a mentality that must fight, and this pragmatic style of play and attitude made the intensity of the confrontation rise sharply.

Li Liang began to temporarily retreat from the fierce pressing of his opponents in the front court, but Wiggins's pressing made it difficult for him to control and take the ball in the way he was used to.

For a while, Monaco's midfield was a little out of control, and the wing attack was not smooth, and Tottenham began to take the initiative on the field.

Pochettino kept a close eye on the situation and after the defeat to Monaco, he collected all the footage of the Monaco game, including the last game against Lorient, which he watched repeatedly before leaving for Monaco.

What made him a little relieved was that in addition to the attackers in excellent form at Monaco, there was also Li Liang.

He found Monaco's number 17 to be very unpredictable, with few regularities to follow, and nothing at all like the usual style of play in the midfield.

But he also found that he found that the number 17 did not like to kick the ball out of the way, and was more accustomed to controlling the ball at his feet and waiting for the opportunity to deal with it.

Pochettino asked his assistant to analyse Li Liang's match stats, and the conclusion he came to was exactly what he had guessed: Li Liang's success rate in handling the ball immediately after receiving it was much lower than his exit after more than three touches.

Not only that, Li Liang's ability to create a threatening ball after winning one-on-one duels or successful breakaways is also eye-catching.

With all the results of the analysis, Pochettino locked himself in his office and barely slept as he watched the clips repeatedly.

After a full day and night, Pochettino finally confirmed his earliest suspicions, and he once again saw more and more shadows of a familiar person in Li Liang, or the unborn genius No. 10 known as the "magician" - Riquelme.

The way the two move around, the way they attack the goal, and the skills they use to protect and get away from the ball are all strikingly similar, but Pochettino still finds them quite different.

When Pochettino himself played for Newells Old Boys and the Argentine national team, he was greatly influenced by Coach Bielsa, nicknamed "Crazy".

Bielsa was under intense pressure to abandon Riquelme on the grounds that the typical classical midfielder style of play of the "Magician" was becoming less and less suitable for modern football.

With the fast pace and strong confrontation, there is less and less space and reaction time left for such a talent.

In other words, it is not possible to do the magic of Riquelme, but it is relatively easy to find a way to destroy it!

Pochettino is doing just that, and according to his set-up, the Spurs players are doing their best to disrupt the space in which Li Liang has the ball, while constantly compressing his reaction time.