Football’s First Defender

After five rounds of matches, Liverpool scored only 3 points with 3 draws and 2 losses, not to mention 10 points behind Chelsea at the top of the list. Today's Liverpool ranking has successfully fallen into the relegation zone. They were definitely a huge hit.

But fortunately, the team's game will and fighting spirit in the battle of the Double Red Club is still acceptable, and it also allows everyone to wait patiently for Liverpool's recovery in the league.

If the result of the Double Red Club match ended in Liverpool's defeat, then I believe that even at Anfield, many fans would boo their home team and express their support for the home team in their own way. Coach Rodgers' dissatisfaction.

Fortunately, Yang Feng completed the lore, which can be said to have relieved a lot of off-court pressure on Rogers.

After a thrilling home draw with Manchester United, Rodgers will set his next goal in the next round of the league game against Norwich. This game is Rodgers must strive for the first Premier League victory.

In the English League Cup match in midweek, Liverpool, which had fully rotated the main players, did not even have a defensive guarantee like Yang Feng, but they were also away. Relying on the performance of substitute players and young players from the youth team, they defeated Liverpool 2-1. West Bromwich Albion won their first domestic victory of the season.

In the sixth round of the league, in an away game against Norwich, Rodgers put his latest lineup on the field.

Judging from the official starting list released before the game, the most prominent change is that Rodgers sent four midfielders with extremely strong attack power.

When you first look at Liverpool's starting lineup for this game, the first thing you notice must be the changes in Liverpool's starting staff.

The lineup of 442 is still reported. Among the double forwards, Borini, after performing poorly in many consecutive games, was finally replaced in this game. He was replaced by striker Suso from Spain!

Suso partnered with Suarez, but Rogers still put Carroll, who did not conform to his tactical philosophy, on the bench.

Afterwards, on the back line, due to Martin Kelly's recent performance, he was not very brilliant. With Jose Enrique still injured, Rogers boldly used the younger Andre Wisdom, now 19 years old Wisdom was quickly promoted to the first team by Rogers, and became one of the absolutely obedient younger brothers around Yang Feng...

In the midfield position, with Gerrard and Joe Allen occupying the starting position, the other two spots in this game are given to Sterling and Shaheen, who has just been loaned to Liverpool this season.

The offensive ability of the four midfielders is very good at first glance, but who plays the midfielder? Taking charge of defense is the first thought of many professionals.

The four players are all players known for their offensive ability. Sterling must be on the wing, and Joe Allen must be the core of Liverpool's midfield offensive playmaker. As for Gerrard and Shaheen, these two are good at playing. On the offensive end, if you want to play your own strength, if you want to do a good job as a defensive midfielder, there are some difficulties, right?

Although everyone has some guesses, as the game started, Gerrard, who stood in the position of the back midfielder, still surprised many people.

"Rodgers still dares to change!"

This is what everyone said about Rogers.

Everyone was surprised by Rodgers' boldness, but there was no surprise for Gerrard as a midfielder.

Because of the starting four, if anyone has the defensive ability and the physical ability to run back and forth, it must be Gerrard. Although Gerrard is the oldest of the four midfielders, but the only player In terms of characteristics, Gerrard must be the most suitable among the four for this somewhat engineer-like position.

However, let Liverpool's captain, who has always been an absolute core player on Liverpool's offensive end, go to the game and do the dirty work. It can also be seen that Rogers is determined to implement deep reforms in Liverpool.

Break first and then stand up. Rogers, who has been pushed to the brink of desperation by his poor record, is now mainly pursuing victory. As for the player's feeling of discomfort, it is not something Rogers needs to consider now.

Of course, such a player selection does not mean that Gerrard has really become Liverpool's defensive engineer. In Rogers' expectation, Gerrard's offensive role will not be weakened too much. It's just that Gerrard no longer has as many offensive opportunities as before, and needs to focus more on defense.

Gerrard's passing role is on the midfielder position, and it will not be cut too much. Instead, he can use his excellent vision and overall situation view to use effective long passes in the backcourt to play the first passing threat.

And Gerrard's excellent long-range shooting ability can also be used frequently. It will not be wasted, but it will weaken the time and frequency of Gerrard's possession of the ball in the midfield, and the organization task of the last pass will be reduced. Leave it to Shaheen and Joe Allen.

Regarding the change of Gerrard's position, Rogers also had an in-depth communication with Gerrard in the few days before the game. With the team's victory, Gerrard still agreed to Rogers' tactical arrangement.

For Rogers, the use of this tactic makes the team's offensive system more offensive than the previous game.

With Gerrard sitting in the backcourt and taking charge of the long pass, Shaheen and Joe Allen are two passers in the middle and frontcourt to organize the offense. Sterling, who is fast on the left, and Glenn Johnson, who can attack on the right. Complementing each other, Suso and Suarez on the front line only need to rely on their running ability, run out of opportunities, wait for the pass to hit the goal, or grab some crosses from the wing.

In this latest Rogers offensive system, the ones who are really responsible for the defense may be Yang Feng, Skrtel, and a young player Wisdom who will only obey Yang Feng's orders.

The same as last season, when Dalglish relied on Yang Feng's defensive ability to attack aggressively. In the case of an urgent need for victory, it is now time for Liverpool to attack desperately.

As for the reflection on the previous tactics, it may be that Rodgers discovered that the team’s mistakes in the midfield put too much pressure on the defense in the previous game, so now, the team’s offensive advancement must rely on Gerrard’s long pass After halftime, either the two sides are responsible for advancing, and when the opponent's halftime is reached, it is handed over to Joe Allen or Shaheen to organize the attack, so as to reduce the possibility of the opponent's direct counterattack.

And the result of this change is not bad for Liverpool.

Although Gerrard was in the position of the defensive midfielder, he did not do so well on the defensive end in the first game, but Liverpool gained more on the offensive end.

The away game was 2 to 5. Liverpool relied on offense and scored five goals in Norwich away, successfully winning the first Premier League victory of the season.

And Suarez, who has been depressed for several games, finally got a chance to fully show himself in this game. In the first half of the game, relying on long-range shots and grabbing points in the penalty area, he scored twice to help the team establish a two-goal lead.

When the home team Norwich counterattacked in the second half, Suarez scored a header and rewritten the score to 3 to 1. While completing a hat-trick, it also made the opponent's counterattack come to naught.

A hearty victory, a wonderful tactical change, Rodgers finally reaped his first Premier League victory in Liverpool, and Liverpool, from now on, or can be said to really set sail...