Liverpool and Arsenal have made a good start to the season, thanks in part to the unconventional use of centre-forwards by their managers.

Brazilian Roberto Firmino landed in England as an attacking midfielder two seasons ago. At that time, Liverpool bought him to let him supply the two strikers of the team at the time, Christian Benteke and Daniel Sturridge.

But Jurgen Klopp's arrival at Liverpool saw a sea change for the Reds: Benteke left and Sturridge moved further and further away from the team's main position. In the position of center forward, the German coach nicknamed "Uncle Scum" chose to put Firmino at the front.

Compared to the traditional centre-forward, the Brazilian stalwart is more aggressive and selfless.

He is the perfect candidate for the Reds' centre-forward position: not only can he be the first point of the team's pressing, but as a Brazilian he also has the technical ability to score goals.

Coincidentally, Arsenal have undergone a similar change in the centre-forward position this season.

The Gunners' centre-forward Oliver Giroud suffered injuries early in the season, so Arsène Wenger put Alex Sanchez up front.

The Gunners' thigh has also played intermittently as a centre-forward since his move to the Premier League in 2014, but he has been more of a left-hand side in the previous two seasons.

Although Sanchez has rarely played in the central striker position before, he has not only completed Arsene Wenger's "firing appointment" perfectly, but also opened up a new dimension of Arsenal's attack.

Sanchez has a wider range of movement than the old centre-forward Olivier Giroud, and his excellent running ability and dribbling skills allow him to often drop back and take the ball in tandem. Not only that, but he has all the skills of a traditional centre-forward.

How will the opponent respond to the initial success of the "Pseudo No. 9" tactic?

Everyone may not forget that when Niu Shuai and Wenger met and chatted once, Wenger finally insisted on using Sanchez as a center forward.

Therefore, Niu Shuai has his own set of tactics to deal with the "pseudo-No. 9" tactics.

Unfortunately, Hull City has too many new players and it takes a longer time to build an overall tactical system, so when Liverpool's crazy counterattack after the restart, Hull City is in constant danger in front of the goal.

Because Klopp asked Jordan Henderson to fill in behind James Milner when he attacked, this panacea simply incarnated as a left winger, and Coutinho teamed up to prevent Davide Thornton's impact, even if the goal-scorer Mathieu Flamini came to help defend, he couldn't stop the crazy Brazilian "Ku Bird".

In the 22nd minute, Milner crossed to Coutinho and immediately rushed forward, making a wall-to-wall coordination with the Brazilian, attracting Thornton's attention, Coutinho received the ball and first swiped a few bicycles in a row, shaking Flamini almost dazzled, and suddenly broke through the French midfielder with the ball, and shot a long shot at the arc, but hit the crossbar and bounced out.

In the 25th minute, Firmino snatched the ball from Flamini's feet in front of the court and passed diagonally to Coutinho, Curtis Davies signaled Martin Cáceres to watch Sadio Mane and rushed towards Coutinho. Unexpectedly, the Brazilian sent a beautiful ball from behind Davies, Milner threw out of Thornton's half-body position and rushed to the ball to shoot, but fortunately Diego Alves was focused and accurately positioned, and a cross save saved Milner's shot from the bottom line.

"Curtis !!" Niu Shuai frowned and shouted, and pointed to his temple with his right hand, this guy is still too impulsive, does not use his brain, and is too easy to lose his position.

Davis saw Niu Shuai's unhappy look, touched his bald head in a sneer, Cáceres stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, and said: "You go and keep an eye on No. 19, be careful not to kick easily, just don't let him catch the ball." ”

Glancing at this old South American opponent again, he said secretly: "The boss is right, to prevent his long-range shots and cut off his passing routes, Davis can't do it." ”

can't help but miss Zhu Zeming, with him, Coutinho's ball behind him can't be passed.

Yes, Zhu Zeming is a rare central defender who plays with his brain, don't look young, but he is very stable, super predictive, decisive in attack, and experienced Cáceres is the best choice for Niu Shuai's double central defenders.

Seeing Milner's shot saved, the passionate Klopp was very annoyed, but the corners of his mouth turned slightly, Hull City's defense did not seem to be as solid as imagined, and the No. 6 seemed to be able to target him with a single point of crit.

Taking advantage of the dead ball, he called Ragnar Clavan, who was very close to him, and whispered a few words in his ear.

Niu Shuai glanced at it, called Schweinsteiger in front of him, and said: "Tell Robertson to adduct a little, pay attention to filling in for Davis, he doesn't have to stop the cross." You're going to have to help Davis and don't get him into a two-on-one situation. ”

Schweinsteiger nodded and returned to the court to say something to Davis.

Klopp sees Davies' weaknesses in defense, how can Niu Shuai not know?

Mane's body is strong and explosive, and Davies will definitely have to struggle to resist his impact, and Klopp will not only let Mane beat Davis alone, but may let Firmino and Coutinho take turns to attack Davies. So Niu Shuai decided to give up the left side, still crossed by the opposing fullback, anyway, Liverpool has no high striker, and the high-altitude ball is not much of a threat to Hull City, so just pay attention to the opponent's front insertion and grab the point, and protect the landing point in the penalty area.

This adjustment, although I know that Liverpool will play Davies, but the adjustment is an adjustment, after all, the ball is played by the players, and it is difficult to fully implement the tactical tasks assigned by the coach 100%.

And compared with Hull City, which is still in the run-in period, after a season and a half of shaping, Klopp has basically completed the transformation of Liverpool, and the strong attacking power is obviously added with the help of the home fans, and it seems to be more powerful.

In the 26th minute, Giorginho Wijnaldum and Milner, Coutinho on the left side of a series of short passes, suddenly from Coutinho's long pass to the right side, Nataniel Klein unmarked with the ball to the right side of the penalty area cross, Davies header clearance to the feet of Adam Lallana, Lallana immediately passed the ball over the top to Davies, Mane flashed Davies, although Robertson pasted up, but the running Mane was like a sports car unstoppable, Robertson did not dare to destroy the ball, for fear of tripping Mane, A penalty was awarded, after all, this is Liverpool's home stadium.

Robertson couldn't bear the physical Senegalese, Davies turned to jam his shooting route, Mane scrambled to hit the goal with his right foot, Alves made another beautiful save, but Mane shot too hard, Alves couldn't save the ball far, the ball was grabbed by Firmino in front of him, and he easily touched the ball into the goal with no defense.

1-1, ten minutes later, Liverpool equalised.