That night, Benitez found Zhang Tiehan and explained to him the 'three-core' tactic.

In this way, it was the first time for Zhang Tiehan to face the coach's one-on-one study of tactics, he listened very carefully, and roughly understood what the coach meant, that is, to let himself run more in the game, pass and receive the ball more, and his position was also moved from the forward line and adjusted to become the front midfielder.

Zhang Tiehan didn't care about the back, it was nothing to drop back, he played in the back of the Manchester United youth team, and his personal ability and position were not limited to strikers at all.

But the front ...... More passes?

This means that he will use more passing and receiving the ball to find opportunities in the future, rather than charging with the ball himself, which is a change, Zhang Tiehan also understands that this is a good change, after all, only relying on himself to charge, and there is no difference when he was in the Rome team, when he played against the world's strongest teams, he was always alone in the front court, and all his teammates retreated to defend, which felt really not very good.

Only by increasing passing and receiving can the team as a whole not be suppressed by the opponent.

But can you do it yourself?

Zhang Tiehan didn't know, but Benitez said, "Zhang, I've been observing your watch for a few days, and I found that you have the potential to become the core of the midfield, and you do a very good job of passing and receiving, especially the short passes, you play very accurately, and your skills have improved very quickly, and sometimes I am very surprised by your physical agility...... Maybe you used to think that you were playing with your body, but in reality, your technique can be no weaker than your body, and if you can do it, then I have no doubt that you will become a world superstar, like Beckenbauer, like Maradona......"

Zhang Tiehan was tempted.

Benitez said so, so what doubts did he have? It's not that he believes Benitez. It's about believing in yourself!

Although his body is an advantage, but now that he has a new ancient power, his movements have become very agile, his personal skills have improved quickly, coupled with his 'control' and the ability to grasp his body, his starting point is something that others can only look up to. If he can't adapt to the core of the midfield, can't lead the team with passing and receiving the ball and look for opportunities, he simply gives up on being a professional player.

"Sir." Zhang Tiehan looked at Benitez with a firm expression, "I can do it!" ”

Benitez smiled.

……

Then Zhang Tiehan began to increase the coordination training with his teammates, he will participate in every tactical training of the team, and he will also participate in various coordination training, and he will also exchange some experience with Gerrard and Alonso in private, and he hopes that he can make rapid progress in this area with his best efforts.

It's just that time is running out.

August 13th. At the start of the first round of the Premier League, Liverpool went to challenge Middlesbrough away.

Speaking ahead of the game, Benitez expressed his ambition for the season: "We are the champions of Europe and we want to be the champions of England. ”

It's an inspiring statement.

But more media believe that it will be very difficult for Liverpool to do so, and if they do, their astonishing success will be no less than last season's Champions League miracle.

Liverpool are one of the most noteworthy teams. There have been a lot of changes in the lineup in the summer, and they bought the excellent Zhang Tiehan. Benitez's ability also makes their future worth looking forward to, but compared to the steady and tough Chelsea and Manchester United Arsenal, which have been competing in England for the past 10 years, Liverpool has just embarked on the road to revival, and the prospect of a step to the top is not favored by the media.

Last season, Liverpool's table in Europe and the domestic league was very different.

The Telegraph said, "How to play more steadily against Premier League opponents. Improving away results, in particular, is something Benitez needs to solve. ”

Regardless of what the media says, the Liverpool and Middlesbrough match has gone on as normal.

Middlesbrough's most striking work in the summer was to strengthen their forward line, bringing in Portsmouth's Yakubu for a modest price of 7.5 million. Coach McClaren will no longer be worried about Hasselbaink's age (33) and Viduka's injury, and with the return of Macarone (returning from loan) and Christie (returning from injury), Myburgh's forward line is already ready to compete with the big teams.

However, Myburgh lost last season's best Zenden, and the introduction of Pogatez was even more of a failure, who first had to sit in the field of superintendent for six months after joining Myburgh, and it was clear that McClaren was not very well informed before making the decision, and he made more mistakes than Benitez.

Zenden came to Liverpool in the summer, he is obviously the least popular player among Middlesbrough fans, but Zenden still started this game, and his ability is undoubted, especially against his old club, Benitez can't let Zenden play, unless he himself wants not to play.

After the start of the game, Myburgh defended very tightly and Liverpool were a little helpless.

They defended Zhang Tiehan's point more tightly, Zhang Tiehan even had a feeling of being stuck in a quagmire after coming out, whenever he wanted to look for an opportunity, he would find that he always had Middlesbrough players around him, and more than one, which was obviously Middlesbrough's defense against him.

The current Premier League teams, and even all the teams that may encounter Liverpool, have studied Zhang Tiehan a lot, because Zhang Tiehan's goal last season was so crazy that if they play against Liverpool, they must defend Zhang Tiehan's points, otherwise the game will not win at all.

In the face of this kind of targeting, Zhang Tiehan was mentally prepared, but Middlesbrough's defense was really good, and it was very difficult for him to find opportunities.

Then Zhang Tiehan decided to try a 'new tactic'.

He dropped back a little and began to play with his teammates in a constant way of passing and receiving the ball, and whenever the ball was at his feet and it was difficult for him to break through the Middlesbrough defence, he would pass the ball to Gerrard or Alonso, or someone else, and the three of them obviously increased the number of passes and receptions, and for a while Liverpool's passing and receiving increased a lot.

But the actual effect is not great.

After all, the team has not yet adapted to the new tactics, especially Zhang Tiehan, he is the most important part of the new tactical offense, he has not yet adapted, and it is no problem to pass and receive the ball with his teammates, but how to pass can easily find opportunities. It's very difficult to get a grip on how to move after passing.

So Liverpool's attack was a little dazed.

A lot of passing and receiving the ball is just a waste of time, but Zhang Tiehan still did it, he wanted to find the feeling of a real game, rather than training all the time and using real games to adapt himself to the tactics. That's just a lot of good.

As a result, Liverpool didn't find a good chance in the first half, and Zhang Tiehan's own appearance was really miserable, and he didn't even have a shot on goal in the entire first half.

Fortunately, Middlesbrough was not good, they have been defending, and the limited number of attacks did not play tacit cooperation, and the game between the two teams was really not spectacular, making the fans in the audience a little drowsy.

At half-time, the on-site commentator also said, "Liverpool played a bit of a puzzling game today. You know, just three days ago, they beat CSKA Sofia 7-0 in Bulgaria, but they seem to be two teams today and three days ago. ”

At the same time, he criticised Middlesbrough as being too conservative.

In the visiting dressing room, Benitez spoke about the first half of the game and asked Zhang Tiehan to return to 'normal' to play, "I know you are anxious to adapt to the new tactics. But the team also needs to win. The purpose of my tactics is to make the team stronger, and the stronger the team, the more wins we get. But the goal of a qiē is still victory. ”

"I'm sorry. Instructor. ”

Zhang Tiehan apologized, he knew that he was in a hurry, after all, tactical adaptation is not something that can be completed in a day or two, and what he has to adapt to is a position that he has never played before, which will take a lot of time.

Liverpool regained morale in the second half. Fight again with Middlesbrough.

Middlesbrough are still playing defensive counter-attacks, they play quite conservatively, after all, it is the first round of the league, and every team wants to get off to a good start and lose the game if they attack rashly. It's better to hold on to the goal and get a draw, the first round of the league draw is still acceptable, if you lose the game, it will have a great impact on the next league, and it will also be a big blow to the team's morale.

But when Zhang Tiehan returned to being a striker, it was not easy for Middlesbrough to stabilize the defense.

Zhang Tiehan used the advantage of strength to constantly attack the Middlesbrough backline, which made Middlesbrough a little chaotic in the opening stage of the second half.

Five minutes later, Gerrard got his chance in the middle and played the ball to Alonso, who cut in the ball and stuffed it into the box, and Cisse, who started the game, grabbed the spot and pushed the ball into the goal.

The score became 0:1 and Liverpool took the advantage.

This was also the only goal of the game, in the later games, Middlesbrough re-stabilized the formation, Zhang Tiehan has been looking for opportunities, but the opponent's defense against him is too tight, he wants to rely on his ability to break through the opponent's defense is too difficult.

The rest of Liverpool's players didn't find good chances either, Middlesbrough are not underdogs after all, they are very solid defensively, relying on buckets and positioning, they can limit their own half very effectively.

At this time, Zhang Tiehan also knew the importance of cooperating with his teammates.

When he was in Rome, he often relied on his own ability to score goals, especially when playing against strong teams, Rome was suppressed, and the opponent's offensive formation was pressed very forward.

That's the way it is now.

Liverpool are better, but the opponent is not weak, when the opponent is defending with all his might, it is too difficult to find opportunities, and now the opponents are very important to his defense, even if Benitez does not change his tactics, he must adapt to the cooperation with his teammates.

Only the use of coordination to tear apart the opponent's defense is the simplest and most effective means.

After the game, the media gave Zhang Tiehan a rating of '6', which was only just passing. Alonso, on the other hand, has a rating of '7.5' and is also the Man of the Match thanks to his through assist that broke through the defence.

This was Zhang Tiehan's first Premier League game. (To be continued......)