Football’s First Defender

After a big victory over the league leaders Manchester City, Liverpool almost killed the suspense of going to Manchester in the second leg.

Now they can shift their focus to the league competition for Champions League qualification.

It's just that Liverpool's lineup is still a bit thin. After experiencing the League Cup match in the middle of the week, the Liverpool players obviously did not recover from fatigue in the league match 3 days later.

Facing Stoke City at home and facing Stoke City's iron barrel formation, Liverpool's strikers really don't have many opportunities.

"City in the Sky" is naturally not afraid of Liverpool's wide cross. The visiting team has too many players who can compete for high points. Liverpool, a Carroll, is caught in the opponent's double defense, and there is not much to do.

The height of the others is too different from that of the Stoke City players.

Although Liverpool has a very high ball possession rate in the game, they have absolute initiative on the field, and they have also created many corner kicks and set kicks.

The two central defenders, Yang Feng and Skrtel, can also participate in the offense and participate in the team's set-piece tactics as a high point, but there is still not much room for them to play.

The opponent's strikers and defenders are all tall and big, and Liverpool will not be given a chance to compete for high balls.

And Liverpool, whose wing crosses and set-piece tactics have been cracked, has no other good way to face Stoke City, which is dedicated to defending one point.

The long-range shots of the midfielders led by Gerrard faced the tight defense of the visiting team and the threat was limited when the penalty area was full of legs.

And if they want to rely on pass control and launch a ground attack to tear apart the opponent's defense, Liverpool does not have so many skilled players.

During the game, Suarez retreated to the outside of the penalty area to catch the ball, and then performed a wonderful performance with 3 people in a row. However, when he hit the goal at the end, he was still blocked by the fourth defensive player in the penalty area of ​​the visiting team on the flight path of the ball. .

Of course, theoretically, there is no solid defense that cannot be broken. However, due to the fact that their physical fitness has not yet recovered, the Liverpool players who could not move their legs at the end of the game really have no way to create a strong defense by running frequently. Here's the chance.

It is still a sequela after the English League Cup, but this is also the price Liverpool players have to pay in order to advance to the final.

Fortunately, since Stoke City's goal is very clear, which is to stick to the away game to score a point, so the players' attention is devoted to defense, and there are not too many opportunities created on the counterattack end of the frontcourt.

The defense led by Yang Feng did not suffer too much threat of counterattack in the game, but several opportunities for the opponent to set the ball also made Yang Feng withstand several tests.

In particular, Stoke City defender Thomason, in a corner kick tactic, under the defense of Yang Feng, still opened the way with his body, completed the top challenge, and headed a wonderful header.

Fortunately, Reina's reaction was quick at that time, and the angle of the header was not too wide, and Reina accurately received it.

Both sides have no way to complete the change of the score on the field.

In the end, Liverpool had 70% possession of the ball and completed 21 shots, but they had no success on the offensive end. The two teams drew 0-0 at Anfield, and Liverpool was unbeaten in two rounds of the league.

Due to the two rounds of victory, Liverpool has been overtaken by Chelsea in points by one point, and is only 3 points ahead of Arsenal for the time being, ranking fifth in the league.

After finally taking a week off to give their players time to recover, Liverpool travel to relegation-bound Bolton at the weekend.

When the five teams behind the relegation zone have staggered points, for these relegation teams, one point may determine whether the team can stay in the Premier League in the end.

So all the teams in front of Bolton are now their enemies on the road to relegation. Every home game is a battlefield where Bolton must grab points. Even when facing giants, even if they can't get all three points, they have to break a tooth and hold a tie to get a point.

Bolton originally planned to sit at home, learn from Stoke City to use defense, and just keep one point.

But Gerrard's long-range shot in the first half succeeded, which declared the failure of the opponent's defense.

In the end, Bolton, who had to attack and fight for his life, lost 3-1 at home.

Liverpool's conceded goal happened at the last moment, which was a "face ball" for the relegation opponent. In the 60th minute of the game, when Liverpool secured the victory 3-0, Yang Feng took a rest. The combination of Agger and Skrtel was still too rash on the field, and was caught by the opponent. succeed.

Since Chelsea's current round of the game was played ahead of schedule, and the away game was tied by Canary Norwich, Liverpool once again surpassed by one point, ranked fourth, and entered the Champions League.

In the next week of competition, Liverpool will usher in two fierce battles. The first is the second round of the Carabao Cup semi-finals. This time Liverpool will go away to face Manchester City.

In the next three days, Liverpool will rush back to Anfield to face their old rival Manchester United in the FA Cup.

The double red meeting will be staged on the fourth round of the FA Cup.

With the team holding a three-goal lead, Dalglish made bold rotations and changes in team formation for the game against Manchester United three days later.

Liverpool directly set up a formation of five defenders. Deputy Carragher started this game, partnering with Yang Feng and Skrtel in three central defenders.

Although the left and right fullbacks remain the same, Dalglish intentionally reduced the attack range of the two forwards in the tactical arrangement, and let them defend with all their strength, in order to reduce the physical consumption of the two. , to prepare for later.

In the midfield, Downing and Charlie Adam took turns to replace them with Dirk Dirk and Maxi. Gerrard and Henderson are also in charge of the team's defense, so they don't need to consume too much energy on the offensive end.

The single striker is still extremely threatening Suarez.

Liverpool's defensive appearance in the away game did not stimulate Manchester City to give it a go.

In this game, Manchester City has actually made plans to give up. After all, they are fighting Liverpool to the death, and they may not have a chance to complete the three-goal reversal. It will only be cheaper for Manchester United in the league and the FA Cup.

Then it's better to stay on your own, to ensure that the players are not injured, and you can concentrate on the league and compete with Manchester United for the league championship.

And three days later, the double red meeting between Manchester United and Liverpool, a healthy and energetic Liverpool will definitely bring huge consumption to Manchester United.

Although Manchester City is also the main player, the team's offense is actually a formality. Of course, if the team's tentative offense can really achieve results quickly, then Manchester City does not mind switching to the crazy attack mode to see if it can be completed. Shocking reversal.

However, in today's football, it is still too difficult to complete the 3-goal reversal when the strength is not much different.

Manchester City's offense, facing Liverpool's five defenders in the opening scene, did not achieve very good results. Yang Feng has accurate judgment and quick response; Carragher has rich experience and looks like a general;

For Liverpool's defense line, under the circumstances that team deputy Carragher clearly handed over the field command to Yang Feng, Yang Feng did not live up to the trust of the veteran. He cooperated extremely well with his teammates and built a stronger defense line for Liverpool.

Manchester City's offense did not pose too many threats in the first half. On the contrary, Liverpool's frontcourt player Maxi once again proved his strength in the rare playing time.

In a counterattack, his long drive went straight, extending the big score to 4-0 for Liverpool.

In the case of the team's shortage of rotation players and the three-line battle, Dalglish faced Maxi who performed so well on the court, and was also considering whether to give him more playing time.

With the further expansion of the score, the players of both sides in the subsequent games were more like going through the motions, and they were all working without effort.

In the second half of the game, Liverpool's defensive team also began to rest when there was not much time left, and "released water" as a return to Manchester City.

Silva used a wonderful kick to equalize the score for Manchester City at the top of the arc in the penalty area.

The score of 1 to 1 was finally maintained throughout the game. Both sides suffered less loss and will continue to struggle for their respective goals in the following games.

And Liverpool's current goal is only one, and that is the mortal enemy in every sense-Manchester United!