Chapter 333 Manchester United and Liverpool are good friends
At the end of the first half, the number displayed on the scoreboard was still 1:0.
With Coutinho's world-beating performance in the first three minutes, the home team Liverpool surprisingly led the entire first half.
However, when the players from both sides walked off the field, you could see that there was no sign of falling behind on the faces of the Chelsea players.
They were all confident and cheered each other up before returning to the locker room.
This makes the players and coaches at Liverpool feel a little puzzled.
Who is leading?
Is this the temperament of the legendary strong man?
All Chelsea players will believe that after Pan Yi’s half-time adjustments, the score will definitely come back?
This is too mysterious!
The commentator Zhan Jun also said:
"Although Liverpool did play very well today, taking the lead in the first half and gaining a certain advantage on the field. But as we all know, Chelsea in the second half, especially after 70 minutes, are not easy to mess with, so Rodgers must not
Take it lightly."
As a fan of Liverpool for many years, Zhan Jun tried to remain neutral in his commentary, but the home team's lead still made his words unknowingly relaxed, and he could not help but give Rogers advice.
"When facing Pan Yi's Chelsea, it is actually not easy to gain an advantage on the field! So many strong teams before have failed to do this."
"I think Rodgers just needs to consider how to make good use of this advantage now and score Chelsea's goal again as soon as possible."
"Because Chelsea this season is so strong and resilient, leading by one goal is not safe at all."
"And if we can score another goal, then with the fanatical support of tens of thousands of Anfield fans, it will be very possible to win this game."
Zhang Luze said: "I agree that Liverpool must seize the time to score again."
"But now I doubt they can do it."
"I don't know if you noticed that in the first half, although Liverpool seemed to have the advantage, except for the long-range shot shortly after the opening, the real opportunities were very limited."
"When Liverpool attacks, Chelsea will retreat slightly to stabilize the defense; but if Liverpool press deeper, Chelsea's defense, which was originally retreating at the front of the penalty area, will also press forward and strengthen the pressing in the midfield and frontcourt.
Strength, don’t let Liverpool easily break into the 30-meter area.”
"This leaves Liverpool with no choice but to play back and reorganize. At this time, Chelsea's defense will retreat again, and the pressing intensity in the midfield and frontcourt will also be relaxed."
"Then Liverpool pushed forward, and Chelsea pushed forward again, pushing Liverpool's attack outward. In the first half, the two sides mainly fought in the 30-meter area near the center circle, and there were very few shooting opportunities." "Because Liverpool is leading the attack, it looks like they have the advantage, but in fact it's a balance at best."
"Coach Pan Yi's purpose in doing this should be to use solid defense to consume Liverpool's energy first. After all, Liverpool has the support of the home court and scored first. Of course, this will also consume Liverpool's physical and energy. Wait until the second half.
Use force."
"And young guys like Chelsea often burst out with amazing energy in the second half. So, this game... hehe, the outcome is unpredictable!"
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In fact, after the players from the two teams returned to the locker rooms, the head coach Rogers of the home team also looked very solemn.
He also got some first half data from his assistant before.
The ball possession rate is 60 to 40, with Liverpool leading.
But the number of shots was 5 to 5, and the two sides were tied. The number of shots that hit the goal frame was 1 to 3, and Chelsea took the lead.
In other words, in the first half, apart from knocking Chelsea's goal with two consecutive long shots, Liverpool did not create as many opportunities as Chelsea.
This also made Rogers feel a crisis.
After all, he is a coach with many years of coaching experience, and he will not think that the overall situation is determined just because he is ahead.
The content and data of the competition can explain the problem.
Leading in ball possession? That’s false.
That's just because Chelsea voluntarily gave up possession of the ball, and because Liverpool was unable to effectively attack Chelsea's penalty area, they had to spend more time in the backcourt.
The number of shots and shots on target, including a more reasonable number of expected goals, can reflect the ability of both sides to create opportunities.
Liverpool's five shots in the first half were all long-range shots from outside the penalty area;
Most of Chelsea's five shots were hit into the penalty area through coordination, including crosses from the wing and direct penetration into the ribs, with various tricks.
If Liverpool's defense performance hadn't been pretty good today and goalkeeper Minho was very focused, Chelsea might have evened the score.
Now it seems that Pan Yi may really be playing a cat-and-mouse game.
He was not in a hurry to press forward to equalize the score. Instead, he held on first and let Liverpool, who were good at counterattacking, come out first to consume their energy and patience.
When the second half is almost over, Pan Yi will try his best again - this is Chelsea's old routine.
Therefore, during the locker room training session, Rogers used a very serious tone to warn his players.
"We must forget everything about the first half and don't be fooled by the illusion of a one-goal lead."
"Pan Yi's team has always been good at attacking from behind. Don't take it lightly! Otherwise, it will be impossible to interrupt their winning streak!"
"I don't know how many teams have suffered such losses, so we must be careful."
"In the second half, we have to adopt a more prudent approach and return to our usual defensive counterattacks."
"They will definitely attack aggressively. We have to pay attention to the defense of the two wings, because their wingers and wing backs are very powerful."
"Also, Lovren and Skrtel in the middle, you must guard against Lukaku and prevent him from connecting on the wing..."
After explaining every key point, Rogers felt a little more at ease and sat on the chair with a sigh of relief.
Only then did he feel a little calmer.
Then he shook his head again, gritted his teeth secretly and said:
"tmd, how could I be so panicked? This guy Pan Yi puts so much pressure on people...md I am in the lead now!"
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In the visiting team's dressing room, the atmosphere was not as tense as Liverpool's.
Pan Yi just continued to encourage his players and arranged the second half in an orderly manner:
"Everyone did a good job in the first half! Although we conceded a goal, we played very well in the rest of the game. We defended well and controlled the rhythm well. I am very satisfied and will continue in the second half."<
/p>
"But in the second half, they may not push their formation as high as before, because if they are ahead, they will want to keep the score, so shrinking back to defend against counterattack is the most likely result."
"This time is to test our offense, which means we have to use the training content we have prepared in the past few days."
"I won't go into details anymore, you should all keep it in mind."
"In short, the most important things are three points: suppress Coutinho, suppress their wing, and create set pieces!"
"Including what I ordered before the start of the first half, I will do the same in the second half. You can't forget it just because I slightly adjusted the tactics in the first half. You are not that stupid, are you?"
Everyone laughed.
It is so easy to be one goal behind. This is probably what you can see in the Chelsea dressing room now.
Finally, Pan Yi said:
"Believe me, brothers, as long as you can remember your responsibilities, as long as each of you does your best to complete your tasks, then I guarantee that victory will definitely belong to us!"
Everyone clapped their hands vigorously to echo their head coach!
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"There must be a lot of tension in the Chelsea dressing room right now."
The two guests of Sky Sports, Gary Neville and Carragher, are of course also paying attention to this game.
Gary Neville is right there talking:
"Pan Yi must be feeling guilty now."
"It's not that easy to come back after being one goal behind at Anfield!"
"And in the first half, the team did not play as well as Liverpool. This may also make Pan Yi have self-doubt, which will lead to some wrong judgments and adjustments."
"To be honest, I doubt Chelsea will concede another goal in the second half."
"In other words, Chelsea's first defeat of the Premier League season is finally here! Hahahaha!"
Gary Neville spoke so confidently and seemed so excited that Carragher, who was sitting next to him, couldn't help but doubt his own identity.
He hurried over to remind Gary Neville: "Brother, it seems...it seems like I am from Liverpool? Aren't you a Manchester United legend? Why do you want us to win so much?"
You know, Liverpool and Manchester United, the "double club", have been the biggest enemies and competitors in the history of the Premier League in recent decades.
If a fan claims to be a double fan of Liverpool and Manchester United, then he must not be a real fan.
As a famous Manchester United player, Gary Neville usually uses Liverpool's losses to ridicule and despise Carragher.
But today... Neville hugged his thigh to the lap of his mortal enemy. It was really unscrupulous!
At this time, Gary Neville waved his hand and said nonchalantly:
"Now I just want to see Pan Yi really lose a game in the Premier League. As for who he loses to, who cares?"
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
"At this time, Manchester United and Liverpool are good friends!"
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As Pan Yi arranged, Chelsea really stepped up their offensive in the second half.
However, because Rogers also asked his disciples to shrink their defense, Chelsea's offense was not able to pose a big threat immediately.
When Liverpool got the ball to counterattack, Pan Yi had specially arranged players to cut off the connection between Coutinho and other Liverpool players, forcing him to dribble the ball forward, and at the same time blocking his long-range shot.
There was no space, which made Liverpool's counterattack even more stumbling and very disadvantageous.
On the scene, Chelsea was more attacking, and their main attack was Liverpool's two wings.
As Pan Yi said at the pre-match preparation meeting, the two full-backs Moreno and Johnson are indeed still far behind world-class defenders in terms of comprehensive ability.
His performance on the court is that his offense is not that sharp and his defense is not that good.
Not to mention Marcos Alonso and Azpilicueta who can fly up and down at Chelsea, just talking about the 11 players in Liverpool's team, these two are also the least famous.
In the football world, being less famous often means that a player's abilities are not top-notch, either because he is young and has not been discovered yet, or because he has been playing in a small team.
You play in a wealthy team, but you are still not well-known, which in itself shows some problems.
Therefore, Chelsea's two wings kept attacking Liverpool's two full-backs, leaving them exhausted.
Especially on Hazard's side, Johnson had a very difficult time dealing with it, and was broken through and cut inside by the Belgian several times.
Fortunately, Liverpool's two central defenders performed relatively well, but in order to help Johnson defend, Skrtel also received a yellow card.
As for the other side, Moreno also received a yellow card under the repeated attacks from seat B.
It can be said that although Rogers' contraction policy prevented Chelsea's offense at first, the Blues' offensive still brought increasing pressure to Liverpool.
In the 65th minute, Chelsea launched another wave of attacks along the right.
Seat B dribbled the ball away from Moreno and cut in, but was blocked by Liverpool's Croatian central defender Lovren, but Lukaku also made a diagonal pass at this time!
This is the power of "professional winger" Lukaku, he can pull out! He even inserted along the right side like a full-back.
So seat B passed the ball directly to Lukaku.
Just as Lukaku got the ball, Moreno turned around again, pressed his elbow heavily against the strong body in front of him, and tried hard to push him out.
At the same time, Moreno kept stopping his legs to hook the ball, and from time to time he kicked Lukaku's calf.
But who is Lukaku?
Of course you won't lose your balance due to these "slight" collisions.
He was pressing Moreno with his back, trying to forcefully turn around and pass by, when Pan Yi's cry came to his ears:
"Hanhan! Flip! Flip for me! Find the set piece! Find the set piece for me!"
Only then did Lukaku remember Pan Yi's instructions before the game. His legs gave out and he rolled forward for three and a half weeks before falling to the ground.
Because before he fell, Moreno stretched out his leg to sweep Lukaku, and the referee's whistle sounded immediately.
Free kick!
However, this ball is very close to the baseline, almost equivalent to a corner kick.
So Chelsea treated it as a corner kick.
Hazard ran to the corner kick area on the right side of the court, and he was responsible for taking the penalty kick.
All the tall Chelsea players also ran into Liverpool's penalty area, immediately making the already crowded Liverpool penalty area become full of tall people.
Gerrard, Skrtel and Lovren on the home team are not short, but the two full-backs, including Coutinho and Sterling, are not so good, so Balot is close to 189cm tall.
Lee also has to come back to help defend at this time.
In comparison, Chelsea has more tall men, and the three-center-back system naturally has this advantage!
They stood in Liverpool's penalty area with Lukaku, Marcos Alonso, Matic and others, which was quite intimidating.
In set-piece defense, the front point and the center of the small penalty area are two crucial points, but between these two points, there are also other players who need to protect the defensive players at the two points.
In Liverpool's regional defense against corner kicks, including free kicks like corner kicks that cannot be shot directly, Balotelli is asked to guard the front point, Lovren stands in the center of the small penalty area, and Skrtel is responsible for the back point.
Gerrard and Henderson provide protection further out, avoiding Chelsea's back row and second-point attack.
Obviously, the players on Chelsea's side seem to be very familiar with Liverpool's arrangement. They immediately took up their positions after entering the opponent's penalty area.
In their usual training, there is already a very clear coordination between who attacks the front, who attacks the middle, and who grabs the back.
The only question now is where Hazard, the kicker, will send the ball and what kind of attack it will develop into.
This is what needs to be done in set-piece offensive training. Everyone will be familiar with several routines, and then choose the most suitable one based on the opponent's weaknesses on the spot.
At this time, Hazard was already standing behind the ball, slowly extending his right hand and raising his index finger high.
This is to tell teammates to choose the first routine to attack!
That is to say - hit it before shooting!
In fact, this is the point of Balotelli's defense.
When the crisp whistle sounded, Hazard quickly ran forward and kicked the ball in front of him.
The ball flew up due to the force, and after drawing an arc, it fell towards the goal.
Sure enough, it’s the first point!
Almost everyone reacted immediately.
Gerrard, who was not far behind Balotelli, reacted quickly and rushed over immediately, preparing to disrupt the attack.
Because he knows that Balotelli is less focused when defending. If someone goes around to head the ball, Balotelli will not react much.
But no matter how fast Gerrard is, the Chelsea players who know the landing spot early are faster.
Gary Cahill, who was ambushing in the center of the penalty area, had already jumped out first. After getting stuck in his position, he jumped high and hit the spot directly.
After the ball was tipped by Cahill, it quickly fell to the back of the center of the small penalty area.
Sure enough, facing this sudden change, Balotelli just subconsciously looked back, but made no further defensive moves.
Skrtel, who was defending at the back point, firmly resisted David Luiz who was standing in front of him, preventing him from easily receiving the header.
After all, they are already very close to the goal. As long as there is a slight change in direction, the ball may enter the net!
But David Luiz doesn’t seem to have any intention of directly attacking the goal.
He stood still, with his back to the goal, squeezing Skrtel behind him, and facing the flying ball, he just tapped it with his head and landed it on the grass in front of him. p>
At this time, a blue figure rushed up from behind, then pumped his left foot vigorously, and directly blasted the ball into the Liverpool goal!
The distance of this shot is only about seven or eight meters from the goal. Even if Liverpool goalkeeper Minho is in a good position, he is out of reach of the ball.
"The ball went in, it was Marcos Alonso!
”
"In the 68th minute, Chelsea used a free kick and Marcos Alonso scored with a volley!"
"1:1! Chelsea equalized the score! It seems that it is really not that easy to defeat Chelsea!"
"This is really a wonderful set-piece attack. Chelsea passed two high passes in the penalty area, and the ball ended up at the feet of Marcos Alonso, who was unguarded in the back row."
"As one of the famous representatives of reverse driving, Brother Long lived up to expectations and kicked the ball in!"
Zhan Jun's explanation voice seemed to be hoarse due to excitement, but everyone who knew it knew that he was definitely not feeling well at the moment...
Zhang Lu also said: "Liverpool's set-piece defense has always been problematic."
"Rogers doesn't know why he's so stubborn. They've been criticized for their zone defense this season, but he always sticks to his own approach. Look at today, he conceded the ball again."
"Chelsea's side has obviously done a good job in intelligence work and has specially practiced it. The penalty shot by Hazard was in the area Balotelli was defending, and then after two header relays, it went to
Alonso is a weak defensive area."
"It can be said that Pan Yi won again in this round. If you look at the process of creating this free kick, it is obvious that it was intentional. Lukaku obviously didn't need to knock it down, but he still knocked it down."<
/p>
"As modern football defensive tactics become more and more strict and players become more and more capable of running, it is actually becoming more and more difficult to score goals in sports battles, so the offense and defense of set pieces will become more and more important."
"Not only weak teams should pay attention to it, but strong teams will also develop and utilize it in a deeper level."
"Currently, Pan Yi's tactics are still at the forefront of the world, while Rogers is just one step behind..."
On the court.
After scoring, Marcos Alonso excitedly rushed to the Chelsea fans' stands to celebrate with them.
The head coach Pan Yi also kept clenching his fists and waving towards this side. While celebrating, he also signaled that the fans could cheer louder!
Because this goal not only equalized the score, but also meant that Chelsea had sounded the clarion call for counterattack!
Even in an away game, both the players and fans must overwhelm the opponent in terms of momentum!
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After this goal, the Sky Sports studio became much quieter.
Gary Neville and Carragher looked at each other, relatively speechless.
Although Chelsea only scored one goal and the score was still a draw, they all had a strong feeling that - Liverpool was finished!
Although it is indeed funny that Neville and Carragher worry about Liverpool's victory or defeat together, they are all professional football people after all.
They can see that Chelsea's current offensive is getting stronger and stronger, while Liverpool is a bit tired of parrying.
And Chelsea's goal has not even entered the 70th minute that represents "Pan Yi time"!
After Chelsea scored the equalizing goal, the mentality of Liverpool players will undergo huge changes, and this change is often negative.
This is like a remnant army desperately resisting the enemy's attack. It could have withstood it and even had a chance to counterattack and win;
But at this time, a corner of the position was breached, the morale of the army was affected, the last psychological line of defense was breached, and the position was gone.
And the following plot gradually confirms Neville and Carragher's premonition.
Just five minutes later, Chelsea's offensive resumed.
After Kanter got the ball in the middle, he immediately moved to the left. Marcos Alonso dribbled the ball along the left and suddenly distributed it to Hazard.
The Belgian winger dribbled the ball from his left rib cage into the penalty area. After attracting the defensive attention, he suddenly knocked back to the front of the penalty area. The ball bounced off the ground and rolled to the other side.
Seat B moved laterally from the right, received Hazard's pass at the top of the arc, and shot a volley!
The ball flew forward at an extremely fast speed and once again got into the goal guarded by Minho.
1:2!
Chelsea completed the comeback!
And this took them only five minutes in total.
This makes Liverpool's position even more panicked.
Their passing and receiving errors in the midfield and backfield increased significantly.
In the 79th minute, Liverpool passed the ball to Gerrard in the midfield, but Matic knocked it away. Kante got the ball and launched a counterattack on the spot.
After Lukaku got the ball, he immediately prepared to break into the penalty area. Liverpool defender Skrtel, who was unable to defend in time, had no choice but to bring him down. Fortunately, the referee was merciful and did not show another yellow card, otherwise he would have been sent off.<
/p>
But Chelsea still got a well-placed free kick.
David Luiz did not miss this opportunity and played his best elevator ball in his best position!
The ball hit Liverpool's goal in a weird arc, 1:3!
After losing three goals in a row, Rogers on the sidelines also seemed very depressed. He had to make substitution adjustments in order to strengthen the defense in the midfield, and the team began to be forced to retreat.
It was also at this time that Chelsea's offensive took a break.
But at this time, the momentum of Rogers and all Liverpool players had been completely defeated.
They took advantage of Chelsea's unsteady foothold in the first half and managed to score a goal. However, after 65 minutes in the second half, they were beaten by their opponents three times in just over ten minutes. This kind of blow was not something that ordinary people could do.
Bear it.
After enduring the last ten painful minutes, the referee finally blew the final whistle.
Looking at the Chelsea generals who were celebrating the victory, Rogers also breathed out heavily, shook his head and said:
"Pan Yi is really great and deserves his reputation! His eleven consecutive Premier League wins definitely did not come by chance..."
After this ninety-minute fierce battle, he knew very well that Pan Yi was definitely prepared.
Whether it was intentional contraction in the first half, suppression of Liverpool's counterattack tactics in the second half, or Chelsea's intentional creation of set-piece opportunities, Pan Yi made some mistakes.
The final process and result illustrate this point. Chelsea did break through Liverpool's goal through two free kick opportunities.
As Pan Yi's opponent, Rogers was indeed at a disadvantage in every aspect.
Therefore, Rogers had to admit that he really lost this time!