Obviously, Klopp was not ready, and he could not prepare.
Because the -1 formation that Chelsea put out today is actually the formation that Pan Yi moved from "Future", and it is also an advanced version of the five-way attack launched in response to the recent weakness of the team's offense.
This lineup was first introduced by Guardiola in Pan Yi's previous life, and it was also in the game against Klopp's Liverpool that they achieved a 4:1 victory.
It can be said that this formation is "proven" and can defeat Klopp's favorite style of play.
In this formation, Lingard and the B seat move in the ribs, with the two wingers stretching the width, and Harry Kane retreats at the 9th position.
First of all, in the ball-playing stage, this five-man ball-playing system of Manchester City's three defenders and double midfielders is difficult to target.
Assuming that Liverpool will press high, Coutinho and Lallana, who are pulled to the wing, will find that there are no full-backs to face them. They can only leave their tactical positions to press Chelsea's full-backs, and at the same time let the two
The central midfielder presses the opponent's defensive midfielders.
But once Lingard and Seat B retreat, there will be a 4-on-3 situation in the middle of the court, and Liverpool will not be able to grab the ball anyway.
The second is the offensive phase. After the ball advances to the frontcourt, Chelsea is separated by the two wingers, and the double front midfielders move flexibly to receive the ball. The No. 9 in the middle becomes a false No. 9.
The first offensive method is for the wingers on both sides to use their personal abilities to pass the ball to the attacking midfielder in the ribs to hit the wall to cooperate, or the wingers look for opportunities to cross and shoot.
The second offensive method is to cooperate with the two attacking midfielders and the ninth position at the front of the penalty area, waiting for the opportunity to pass through to the two wingers.
Of course, there are many other small coordination and attack methods, but generally speaking, the court is divided into five areas vertically, and each area has players in position. This is a typical five-way attack.
The last stage is the defensive stage. The 3241 formation is destined to have 7 people over half the field during the attack, so high-position pressing tactics must be used.
Facing a pressing press of 7 people, many teams cannot get the ball out most of the time, because few teams can calmly face so many enemies in the backcourt.
When 7 people play the ball, the difference in numbers will make it very, very difficult for the team to play the ball. It will be normal for the team to find the frontcourt and return the ball.
In other words, if you are playing against a team with a poor shooting system, it is easy to overwhelm your opponent and prevent him from shooting.
Of course, all formations have their weaknesses, and 3241 is no exception.
Since there are no full-backs in this formation, there will be a large gap on the wing. Once the opponent breaks through the press, it will be more difficult for the defense to deal with it.
In addition, the requirements for the two defensive midfielders will also be very high. They have to drop back to catch the ball, release the ball, get rid of, counterattack, and defend. This places high demands on the player's ability and physical strength.
If the team they face has great speed, partial turns and breakthrough points, it will be very difficult for Chelsea.
But the problem is that the current Liverpool team does not have super wingers like Salah or Mane to play on both wings.
And for such a situation, Pan Yi also has a plan.
Why let David Luiz play as a defensive midfielder?
In addition to the fact that he can meet the requirements for a defensive midfielder in the 3241 formation, another important reason is that he is a central defender.
When defending, David Luiz can fall back to the central defender position and form a double central defender with Van Dijk.
At this time, Ake moves to the left and Terry moves to the right, changing the formation into a four-back system, so that there are two full-backs to deal with the possible breakthrough of the opponent's two wingers.
Overall, the advantages of this set of 3241 outweigh the disadvantages, at least today.
On the one hand, there are enough people in the midfield and backcourt, with three central defenders and two midfielders, so they are not afraid of Liverpool's high-position press and can effectively ensure ball control and delivery.
On the other hand, with a thick "base" support, once the offense is pushed up, the front five can fully unleash their offensive abilities.
Finally, thanks to Chelsea's strong talent pool, Pan Yi easily formed a powerful attacking combination of double midfielders + two wingers + a single center.
Even at this time, there are still Goretzka, Lukaku, Mbappe and others on the bench who can be used.
It was just for tactical considerations that Harry Kane, who was more capable of retreating and passing, was used at the center position.
If it were Liverpool on the opposite side, to be honest, apart from the starting players, if we want to use 3241, we can only start Benteke, and then Firmino comes back to play as an attacking midfielder, but there is still one person missing and I don’t know who to let.
Up.
Maybe it would be okay to let Origi play as a winger, but the intensity is indeed incomparable to Chelsea's, and there is no one on the bench.
There is no way around this. Klopp took over midway and has no way to buy people according to his own ideas. He can only adapt to local conditions and follow the prescription.
Of course, the most important component of Klopp's "prescription" is still pressing in the frontcourt. This characteristic will not change depending on which team he coaches or what formation he uses.
Therefore, after the game started, Liverpool took advantage of their home court advantage to launch a rush attack on Chelsea, which greatly dampened Chelsea's momentum.
Chelsea, on the other hand, followed Pan Yi's pre-match plan and calmly used three central defenders + two midfielders + goalkeeper in the backcourt, and the six-person ball-playing system dealt with it.
Once the ball reaches the frontcourt and the ball is taken away by Liverpool, Chelsea's five offensive players immediately switch to the pressing mode, quickly returning the opponent to the method that Klopp is good at.
As a result, the game started at a fast pace from the first minute, with constant exciting scenes.
In the fifth minute, Liverpool created a good shooting opportunity.
Firmino dropped back, received a pass from his teammate, and passed back to Lallana.
Lallana didn't stop the ball and directly passed it behind him. Coutinho made a diagonal run to counter offside and got the ball.
This perfect opportunity made the entire Anfield stadium excited.
But at the critical moment, Ake quickly chased back in front of Coutinho and blocked his way.
This also caused Coutinho to lose the chance of a single goal.
The Brazilian could only choose to cut inside, move away from the angle, and then shoot hard into the back corner of the goal.
But Courtois is very focused. He is also very aware of Coutinho's characteristics and has already taken precautions.
I saw him making a sideways dive and confiscating the ball steadily.
The success of this defense was mainly due to Ake.
He discovered Coutinho's intention to counter offside in time, and immediately chased back. Then he got stuck and Coutinho had no choice but to shoot hastily.
In fact, in Pan Yi's previous life, Ake also slowly grew up in Manchester City, gradually gained the appreciation of Guardiola, and eventually became the main player of the team.
In the 3241 tactical system used by Guardiola, Ake is also very important.
He is a natural left-footed central defender, which is also a very scarce resource in football.
This allows him to play very smoothly in the left center back position, and his smooth ball delivery and transfer can avoid the embarrassment of right-footed players having to take an extra step to change feet in this position.
Moreover, whether he moves to the left back or moves up to the left midfielder, he can complete the task well. He is also very focused on defense and does his best in every action.
Such excellent versatility and diligent attitude are the reasons why he can be appreciated by Guardiola.
And Pan Yi also used Ake in the same way.
In other words, the 3241 used by Pan Yi today also allowed Acker to show his super adaptability "early" and maximize his strengths.
Now, Ake has shown his general style at the age of 20, and can effectively become an important connection point for the team when the team has the ball. Coupled with Van Dijk in the center, Terry on the right and Library behind him.
Turois, Chelsea's entire midfield and backfield are still very reassuring when it comes to controlling the ball.
What's even more rare is that Ake did not fall behind at all when defending Coutinho, who has excellent skills at his feet, and showed his unique defensive ability.
Perhaps one day, this Chelsea youth training product will become the flag of Chelsea's defense like Terry!
——
"I really didn't expect that in such a short time when Klopp took over Liverpool, the team's appearance would change so much."
In the Sky Sports studio, Lineker exclaimed.
The game has been going on for ten minutes now, and judging from the current situation, Liverpool still has a certain advantage.
In such a fast-paced game, Liverpool's Christmas tree position of three defensive midfielders + two attacking midfielders played a very good role, and they did a good job in fighting and passing in the midfield.
At least in terms of ball possession rate and number of shots, Liverpool is currently ahead of Chelsea.
"Indeed, it looks very much like Dortmund back then, but the formation and style of play are different." Liverpool star Carragher also agreed.
Dortmund's style of play is very entertaining, and it advocates aggressive offensive football, which is very popular among fans.
Obviously Carragher is also a supporter of Klopp's style of play.
Carragher continued his analysis: "Under normal circumstances, such a Christmas tree formation focuses more on advancing through the middle, but judging from Liverpool's current game situation, Coutinho and Lallana often move to the two wings. It is obvious that
Focus on the offensive play on both wings. This should be an innovation of Klopp, and it should also be a strategy thought up to deal with Pan Yi."
Alan Shearer also nodded and said: "Indeed. If you look at the midfield, Emre Can and Milner are both relatively advanced, with a large range of activities. Both players are very active. In addition, Henderson is in charge
Behind him, the defensive pressure in the midfield is greatly shared, so Coutinho and Lallana can devote more energy to organization and offense."
"This must be Klopp's careful arrangement." Lineker pointed to the screen. "Center Firmino also fits Klopp's tactics very well. He is very good whether he is retreating or playing in the middle. I think
Even if Klopp wants to buy reinforcements in the winter window or summer window, the center position will not be considered."
At this time, the only person with different opinions in the hall appeared again, of course Zola.
He shook his head and said: "You are exaggerating Klopp, but did they score a goal? No. Come on, football is not a game where whoever has more possessions of the ball wins... By the way, you can see what Pan Yi is doing.
Do you understand the secret of the 3241 formation?"
Everyone answered honestly: "No."
"Haha." Zola sneered, and then said, "I didn't see it either. But I vaguely feel that Chelsea's ball possession rate is not as good as Liverpool's now, and Pan Yi did it intentionally..."
Everyone laughed again.
"You are really Pan Yitian's number one fan now." Lineker laughed, "Even if he doesn't do anything, you think he must have done a lot."
Zola didn't answer, but still stared at the screen: "You just have to wait and see. Don't forget, Pan Yi has never let us down..."
——
Zola's guess was not wrong.
Pan Yi's set of 3241 mainly focuses on "encirclement and reinforcement" in the attack.
First, the four attackers Hazard, Lingard, Seat B, and Gnabry support Harry Kane, while Kanter, the middle midfielder of the double midfielder, can move forward with Lingard and Seat B.
Forming a position swap, David Luiz is the central defender and the midfielder is responsible for organizing and retracting the back line to strengthen the defensive advantage in the middle.
Second, the player's ability to hold the ball reduces the transition between offense and defense at speed, ensuring the team's integrity and local advantages, sacrificing speed for stability.
Specifically reflected in the excellent local marking ability of the bilateral central defenders Terry and Ake, the offensive formation changed from 3241 to 433 in defense, and the first three lines each retreated to one line, thus making up for Manchester City's lack of wing speed and organizing ball control through the ability to get the ball.
.
Such tactics must sacrifice ball rights to achieve absolute ball possession and control, and then strive to achieve tactical value efficiently.
Yes, with this formation, you can win with a low ball control rate in many cases.
When Manchester City eliminated Bayern in the 2022-2023 Champions League quarterfinals, their ball possession rate was also lower than Bayern.
Today, Pan Yi also wants to copy this style of play.
Therefore, after withstanding several waves of offense from Liverpool after the opening, Chelsea began to frequently use the excellent ball control and passing ability of the frontcourt attack group to create threats.
The frequent cross-positioning of the players in front of Chelsea also made it increasingly difficult for Liverpool to defend.
In the 25th minute, Chelsea got a chance to counterattack.
Seat B made a precise long pass in the midfield. Gnabry attracted Moreno's defense on the left rib, and Hazard on the left easily took the ball;
Klein came to fill in the position again and let Lingard go;
At this time, it was too late for Lovren to come back to defend. Hazard had already passed the ball to Lingard, and Lingard passed the ball back in an inverted triangle. Klein was unable to defend in time, and Harry Kane followed up and scored.
net!
"The ball went in!!!!!!!!!"
"Wow, my God, Chelsea's cooperation this time is really wonderful!"
"This ball, through the tacit cooperation of the five players in Chelsea's frontcourt, simply passed the ball into the door of Liverpool! It's unbelievable!"
"This can really be said to be beautiful football. In this attack, Liverpool's defense really paid attention to one thing and lost the other."
"And from this goal, we really saw the power of Pan Yi's new -1 formation."
"It seems like each of them can be an attacking midfielder, anyone can be a center, everyone can play wide, everyone can pass the ball, and everyone can shoot."
"As for why Harry Kane scored the last shot, it was just because he happened to appear in front of the goal during such a rotation. And this also shows his sense of smell as a shooter."
"We were very excited after seeing Kane score, but we rushed to the sidelines and interacted with head coach Pan Yi. It seemed that he was thanking Pan Yi for his trust and support in him."
"After all, Pan Yi only sent one striker today, but it was not Lukaku but Harry Kane. Being able to replace Pan Yi's favorite player as the starting center, he will naturally try his best to express himself. Fortunately,
He did it."
"Now the game time has come to the 25th minute, Chelsea is leading by one goal in the away game!"
"But Chelsea cannot be careless. This is Anfield and Liverpool will not give up."
——
The fact is, as the commentator said, Liverpool's tenacity is known to the world, especially at Anfield.
After losing the ball, the Red Army quickly launched a counterattack.
Firmino, Coutinho and Lallana slanted behind Chelsea's defense again and again, hoping to seize the Blues' defensive holes.
But Chelsea's three central defenders maintain a good distance between them and the two defensive midfielders, and they also maintain a very good connection with goalkeeper Courtois.
This allows Liverpool to sometimes pass the ball behind the three central defenders, but Courtois, who attacks in time, can always turn into a sweeper and resolve the danger.
This is also Pan Yi's requirement for goalkeepers in a three-back system.
He needs to maintain a distance from the defender's line, run more, have stronger foot skills, and the scope of the goalkeeper has also expanded to the concept of "goalkeeper".
Moreover, after resolving a dangerous situation, Courtois often does not handle the ball directly with his big feet, but becomes the first starting point of the attack, passing the ball to the central defender, or even directly passing the ball to the front attacker to initiate the attack.
As the game approached 40 minutes, Chelsea once again seized the opportunity after Liverpool's multiple attacks failed.
First, Firmino and Coutinho played a one-two against the wall, but when Firmino wanted to get behind Van Dijk, Courtois had already moved in time and kicked the ball hard with his feet.
Out, it happened to be handed over to David Luiz in front.
As soon as David Luiz got the ball, he made an overhead long pass and hoisted the ball directly into the penalty area.
Like a ghost, Gnabry burst out between Lovren and Skrtel, got ahead of everyone, stopped the ball with his chest, and volleyed with his right foot without waiting for the ball to hit the ground.
The ball went at lightning speed and hit the net directly before Mignolet could react.
Zero to two!
Compared with the first ball, the whole process of this ball is much simpler, but it embodies the essence of Pan Yi's formation: flexible positions and quick and sharp counterattacks.
The Liverpool players never expected that Gnabry, who had been very wide and almost moving along the sideline, would actually insert himself into the center position and make such a finishing move.
For Chelsea, it only took three or four seconds from the goalkeeper to intercept the ball, to the midfielder to pass the ball, to the winger to insert the shot.
Fast, too fast!
This goal also knocked the Red Army fans at Anfield into silence.
Klopp, who was on the sidelines, was looking at the court with his mouth wide open. His expression seemed to have suddenly solidified. No one knew what he was thinking now.
"Our three defensive midfielders... can't seem to defend against so many of their attackers." Assistant coach Buvac also shook his head and sighed.
Of the two goals just now, the first goal was obvious. When Chelsea's five attackers were making dazzling coordination, the three defensive midfielders were unable to follow their marking targets and failed to respond in time.
It is a very serious problem to protect the area at the front edge of the restricted area.
The second goal even more exposed the problems of Liverpool's defense.
Lovren and Skrtel are undoubtedly a very good central defender combination, even ranked high in the Premier League. In the defense of positional battles, they are indeed quite solid.
But their weakness is more obvious, that is, it is difficult to deal with fast and agile players.
Liverpool's offense looked good just now, but they didn't expect Courtois to steal the ball and pass it directly to David Luiz, and then the midfielder who played in front of the center back directly counterattacked.
His kick pass was very skillful, and his vision was also excellent. He grasped the loopholes exposed by Liverpool's transition from offense to defense. Gnabry was also very sharp in his back-breaking, and then stopped the ball and volleyed.
It is a reflection of personal ability.
Ask yourself, Karlovren and Skrtel really couldn't handle the situation just now, because they were in the penalty area, and an accidental penalty would be a penalty.
Of course, it would probably be better if one of the three defensive midfielders could entangle David Luiz in time so that he could not aim so comfortably.
But now, the ball has been dropped.
And if you throw it away, you get two.
Klopp thought for a moment and said: "If we continue like this, we may lose miserably. In this way, let's recycle Lallana and Coutinho a little bit and play one, so that no matter how their frontcourt changes, we will at least
With five people in the midfield, it’s not easy to lose your position.”
Buvac nodded, now he can only do this.
He also followed Klopp from Dortmund. At this time, he also recalled the fear of being dominated by Pan Yi...