Football’s First Defender

Yang Feng was a little dazed. Was the ball really not suspected of colliding with the goalkeeper? Was the referee's decision appropriate?

But at this time, the Premier League has not introduced VAR. It can only be said that the referee has determined that there is no foul, so this goal is no foul.

Moreover, Bogdan's handling of the ball this time was the biggest mistake.

Even when the penalty area was full of a large number of offensive and defensive players, during the game, he put the ball out with both hands and was caused to drop the ball. Bogdan has a big personal problem.

"Just fall to the ground and press the ball, wouldn't it be good?" Klopp on the sidelines was furious at this time, and he was quite dissatisfied with this conceded goal.

Digging a hole for yourself at the beginning, this kind of game that lags behind at the beginning, is actually quite a blow to the morale of the team.

On the contrary, it was the cheers of the home fans, which reached a turmoil after the opening goal.

The feedback from the fans further strengthened the excitement of the home team players and allowed the home team players to perform better in the game.

A team like Watford has considerable nerve knife attributes.

The players on the team, compared to top-level players, may have that level of strength, but there is no way to maintain it for a long time, or to perform as they please.

But under the stimulation of the home fans, after a 1-0 lead, the extremely excited Watford players were able to play well in this game.

The Liverpool players, when they were behind, wanted to attack and gain possession of the ball.

But they encountered the same thing as the last game, that is, Watford, who played at home, did not stick to the penalty area after taking the lead at all, but came out to compete with Liverpool for the ball and played against each other.

The result is clear, what West Ham can do, Watford can do at home.

Watford's defensive attitude in the midfield is quite active, and relying on better athletic ability, they are very active in gaining the defensive initiative in the game.

There was no way for Liverpool to organize the offense in the midfield. It easily crossed Watford's defense and created threatening offensive opportunities.

In the 11th minute, Coutinho relied on his personal breakthrough ability to get a long-range shot after connecting two people on the left.

Although this kick hit the goal, the Watford goalkeeper fell to the ground and made a side throw, directly blocking the ball.

Liverpool's slightly weak offensive routines now directly expose the consequences of their own offensive monotony under the very active fight in the opponent's midfield.

Moreover, Watford is also advancing on the side, relying on the players' physical confrontation ability to complete the advancement on the side, which also greatly affected Liverpool's high pressure in the midfield.

Without this kind of on-the-spot counterattack opportunity after the counter-robbery, one's own offense can always be touched by the opponent's offensive direction, and the advance arrangement is completed. Liverpool's offensive has been greatly affected.

More offensive opportunities, in the end, can only be transformed into a long-range shot, and the long-range shot is still under certain defensive pressure, so that the Watford goalkeeper has enough preparation time to direct the ball. block.

In the case of many unsuccessful attacks, Liverpool can only start to invest more offensive players in the game to seek the number of offensive players in the frontcourt. The increase in players can bring more offensive options to the team.

It's just that your investment in offensive numbers, especially the forward penetration of the two full-back players, naturally means that the defense's space will become larger.

Although they have Yang Feng's excellent defense, it is still difficult for Yang Feng and Skrtel to control all the defensive areas.

Watford's counterattack strategy is very simple. The first point of attack is always to find the area close to the sidewalk, which is the weakest place within Yang Feng's control range.

There is only one purpose for obtaining the right to the ball at the first landing point, and that is to drive the ball quickly, and then create passing opportunities in the threat area to pass the ball to teammates.

In the 32nd minute of the game, Watford once again completed a successful interception in the backcourt. The backcourt player made a long pass and directly found the area behind Moreno who came up to attack.

After Dini received the ball near the right, he went straight forward and made a further breakthrough.

After attracting Yang Feng's attention and follow-up defense, Dini didn't try to advance the offense by himself, but knew Yang Feng's defensive strength. Immediately, Dini chose to throw a pass and continue to throw the ball. Near the Liverpool penalty area line.

Ighalo is rushing forward.

Skrtel wants to rely on physical confrontation to slow down Ighalo's speed, but Ighalo's own physical confrontation ability is not bad, and has not been greatly affected. He just ran forward with all his strength in the game , and then unloaded the football. Under the interference from Skrtel's side and rear, he didn't stop the ball and directly kicked a burst shot from the right.

"GOAL!!!"

"Ighalo!"

"Brilliant kick to give Watford a 2-0 first-half lead."

In the two games after the new year, Liverpool's two away games against West Ham United and Watford, on the scene, they were restrained by these two teams with similar styles.

This is definitely not good news for Liverpool.

In the second half of the game, Klopp wanted to change this situation. He also sent Benteke, who has performed fairly well recently, to act as the team's offensive fulcrum on the field, but the offensive effect achieved was indeed quite limited.

Although in the second half, Benteke took advantage of Coutinho's pass to run in the penalty area for the first time, but still grabbed the spot and completed a volley.

But the Watford goalkeeper used his own magical save to once again reject this beautiful goal that scored a highlight goal.

After that, as Watford further strengthened its defense in the penalty area, Liverpool's offensive opportunities became less and less.

In the set-piece tactics, Watford also used the method of returning to the defense with all members to increase the players in the penalty area to prevent Liverpool from having a better chance to compete for the top.

Benteke and Yang Feng are indeed capable of fighting for points, but in Watford's "crowd tactics", they are still subject to great defensive restrictions.

In the second half of the game, it was not Liverpool, who were eager to score goals, who created the most threats, but Watford, who continued to play efficient counterattacks.

Had it not been for Yang Feng's repeated defenses in the penalty area to disrupt the opponent's offense, Watford might have scored the third goal early to seal the victory.

However, Liverpool's sluggish offense still failed to make more breakthroughs on the offensive end.

Then Ighalo, in the 79th minute of the game, contributed a world wave on the counter end, giving Watford a 3-0 lead and completely securing the victory.

In the two games after the New Year, in the two away games, Liverpool all lost.

Liverpool, who performed quite well before, suffered a two-game losing streak in the league, allowing all teams to find a way to beat Liverpool from West Ham United and Watford...