Chapter 61: The Premier League's first encounter with Benitez
Rafael Benitez made a name for himself with Valencia, beating Real Madrid and Barcelona to win La Liga in his first season in charge. Pen ~ fun ~ cabinet www.biquge.info then led Valencia to win La Liga and the UEFA Cup. This is a very stubborn, very difficult guy, and this guy has an almost demanding attachment to the tactics of coaching the team. In his team, the first thing he insists on is the execution of his tactics, and for players who cannot execute their own tactics, banishment, banishment, and banishment are Rafael Benitez's killer features.
In the summer of 2004, he brought Alonso, Zenden and Morientes, the transformation of Liverpool's midfield has been tested in the previous rounds of the league, and it has only just passed, the light thunder on the forward line, and the lack of rain has made him lose a lot of hair, and the giants are even more meritocracy, if you can win, you are the king, if you don't win, you are a bear.
Today's game is another round of testing for Rafael Benitez, who were the favourites to relegate at the start of last season, but under the leadership of Foxes, the team actually finished runners-up last season and went straight to the Champions League. A lot of people talk about this dark horse, but Rafael Benitez doesn't think so, this is not a dark horse, this is a thousand miles horse, they are full of energy, balanced attack and defense, tough style of play, exciting confrontation, clear defensive layers, active defense, fast attack, concise, often in the second half 10 minutes to solve a battle. It's a terrible team, it's a team that can do miracles, so they beat last season's Champions League champions AC Milan away.
On the evening of 20 September, the Anfield Stadium was packed to capacity, with KOPs singing that you will never walk alone. When he led the team to face Liverpool for the first time last year, the team was still in turmoil, Hu Li relied on tough defense and domineering physical confrontation to drag down Liverpool, and finally Leicester City won the most critical battle in the team's turbulent period, laying a solid foundation for Hu Li to take over Leicester City smoothly. The first 7 rounds of the league are all double games a week, and the entire Premier League team is now in a state of exhaustion, Liverpool ranked 5th in the league last year and participated in the league, so Liverpool's physical condition is not so good, the consumption is too great, and they are tired like a calf.
Once the game started, both sides adopted a relatively protective strategy, and the tentative attack made the game look very boring. Hu Li looked at the performance of the players on the field is very satisfied, the players strictly implement their tactical intentions, the first 7 rounds of the league a week double match, the back line of the string collapsed too tight, although the rotation, but Hu Li hopes to mediate the tension of the players through a relatively relaxed game atmosphere, otherwise the team will encounter a worse situation at Christmas.
Gerrard had already spotted at the start of the game that Leicester's players did not seem to have any intention of attacking today, as long as they switched attacking lines back and forth in central midfield. Gerrard doesn't even feel like Leicester City are practicing their attacking routines right now, isn't that a game?
As the new captain, he could not tolerate such a situation at Anfield, he began to speed up his running, began to block Leicester City, began to strengthen the defense, under his leadership, Garcia, Sissoko, Alonso also strengthened the defense, and the scene became clear for a while.
But that's not what Benitez wants, and Benitez's tactics call for a solid defence first, testing Leicester's bottom line today with long-range shots and set-pieces. I really don't know much about Hu Li.
After Liverpool's entire midfield was active, Lewis stepped up his defense after receiving Hu Li's instructions, and all the midfielders retreated to the top of the arc in the middle circle, setting up a look of today's Lao Tzu is defense, and there is a kind of rush for you to shoot.
The onslaught didn't work too well, and the mid-field defense can now be said to be airtight. And the attacking side is not Liverpool's forte. The first half ended in the siege.
In the dressing room, Gerrard and the players were panting and booing, and they really got carried away from the attack. Benitez pushed the door of the dressing room, and his face turned blue and he pointed at Alonso of the Spanish department and scolded: "Did I tell you to take the initiative to attack?" You didn't even land a corner, you didn't have a single shot on target, is that an attack? You're helping Leicester City defend. Luckily, I know you're a Liverpool player, so if you don't, you'll think you're a spy from Leicester City. ”
"Boss, it's not Alonso's fault, it's really Leicester City who are too bullying."
"Oh, did they bully you? How come I didn't see it, I just saw that both of our teams were tired, I just saw that Foxes was deliberately slowing down the pace of the game, deliberately so that we all didn't get injured in a tired state, you know? “
"This, this, isn't this game about dividing the victory?"
"Steven, you're still too young, do you think a football game is a football game? You're wrong, you don't have to say it's a game, we're going to fight to the end, but it's 38 rounds. , and the League Cup, the FA Cup, and the League Cup, all of which add up to iron beaters and maintenance, not to mention human beings."
"Boss, do you mean to say that Foxes deliberately let us win this game?" Alonso asked, puzzled.
"There are such wonderful things in the world, Steven, do you know the manager of Leicester City?"
"Boss, I know some, this Foxes is just an exchange student from China to the United Kingdom, the grades are very good, it is said that he finished his studies in less than half a year, and then coached the Les City University football team after obtaining the coaching certificate, and won the championship that year. After Taylor's invitation to join the coaching staff, he subdued all the players with an iron wrist. Even more amazing is the head coach Peter. After Taylor's car accident, the veteran coach actually recommended Foxes to the position of acting head coach, and since then, he has embarked on a magical coaching career. “
"That's right, Steven, you're right, Foxes is a very cunning man, and I think Sir Alex Ferguson has the most pertinent assessment of him, so would someone as cunning, wise, brave, and decisive as Foxes give me points easily? No, not only will he not give us points, he will use them as a whetstone to adjust the physical and mental state of Leicester's players, and he will give us a fatal blow when we are at our weakest. You should know by now. “
"I know the boss, so how are we going to play in the second half." Gerald asked.
"Defending all the way, Alonso and Gerrard form a double midfield, Morientes does a single arrow, and the defense counterattacks in the second half, I see this Foxes break through my door like this."