Football’s First Defender

Liverpool's Champions League schedule is over.

In the away game, after 120 minutes of fierce battle and 8 rounds of penalty shootouts, Liverpool finally stood and died at the Wanda Metropolitan Stadium in Madrid.

The team has lost the possibility of going further in the Champions League. This season, there is still no team that can break the spell of being unable to defend the champion after the restructuring of the Champions League.

Of course, for Liverpool, the season is far from over here. After losing the opportunity to compete for the highest honor in the Champions League, for Liverpool, it can be regarded as being able to devote all of their energy to the competition for the league championship. It is convenient for Liverpool to make efforts in the final stage of the league to increase their investment in the league and to compete with Leicester City for championship honor.

However, for Liverpool, in the middle of the week, just 120 minutes of fierce battle with Atletico Madrid, the players' physical fitness has actually reached the limit.

120 minutes of ultra-long game time, and was eliminated in a penalty shootout. After suffering a lot of psychological trauma, he returned to England. The weekend league was still an away game. A variety of unfavorable factors were entangled. In the round of the league, in the Liverpool away game against Southampton, there are actually not too many advantages, and maybe even Liverpool is still the disadvantaged side.

Southampton, although in recent years, can be called the Red Army reserve, has sent a lot of talent for Liverpool.

For example, Lallana, Klein, the two main players under Klopp are all from Southampton.

Thanks to its excellent scouting system and the retention of the team’s good main framework, many new players who have just arrived in Southampton can immediately play a role. Southampton’s record has not changed every season. Not bad, and the new players can quickly show impressive performance, so that after the end of each season, Southampton can find revenue points.

For example, Mane in the Southampton lineup today, although not long in Southampton, has already made Liverpool coach Klopp very interested.

Klopp needs a player like Mane, who runs aggressively, is fast enough, and has a certain ability to intersect and shoot.

In Klopp's view, if Mane can join in the summer, it will be a huge help to Liverpool's wing.

There is a shortage of good players, and for Liverpool, there is no worries about Mane being cut off.

This "strategic relationship" between Liverpool and Southampton, as long as the transfer price is right, Southampton will still release people and give priority to "joining the army."

In recent years, Liverpool, which has flourished, has a huge attraction to talents.

Klopp only needs to wait until the transfer window this summer before he can do a big job and adjust Liverpool further according to his own wishes.

Although the two teams are off the court and the management relationship is very good, they are very good partners, but on the court, Southampton, who is playing at home, will still show the best performance to show the strength of his players. .

How do you show your strength if you don't play a big team? How was it bought?

Southampton’s Premier League’s middle and upper reaches of the team this season, as a team that can rely on sellers and earn a lot of money in the summer transfer window every year, they can also re-sign the ball. The team continues to maintain good results in the highly competitive Premier League.

It can only be said that the team's transfer department has an accurate vision, and the head coach also has two brushes, which can give play to the strength of the players and form a good team.

Liverpool, who played away, was greatly affected after the Champions League game.

After all, after 120 minutes of high-intensity matches, the players' bodies will inevitably be exhausted. At this time, it is also the most easily injured stage.

Firmino, Lucas, and Milner, all of this game because of a muscle injury, were free from the game.

Henderson, the core midfielder, also experienced some muscle discomfort. Although he can still play in this field, Klopp was placed on the bench for insurance.

Not to mention the loss of three starting generals, the inability of Firmino, the core fulcrum of the frontcourt, to play, is a great damage to Liverpool's current attacking rhythm.

Klopp had no choice but to make changes in this game.

Sturridge, who has recovered from an injury, started again. His partner is the teenager Origi.

Benteke did not get a chance to play in the Champions League, and returned to the league. When Liverpool was short of major generals, he still could not get a starting opportunity. It also revealed Klopp's determination to clear Benteke unless he was really willing. Leading a salary, but just doing blue-collar work as a substitute.

In the midfield, Klopp, who is seriously under-populated, also sent Joe Allen, a direct player of the former coach Rogers, to play. This season, Joe Allen has not many chances to play, and he is also proved himself by returning to the game. Good opportunity for offensive ability.

Coutinho, Lallana, Joe Allen and Emre Can.

Today, due to the impact of player injuries, Liverpool's defense in the midfield dropped to a notch in an instant, which also put more pressure on the backcourt players.

Moreno, like Henderson, is also limited by a little muscle discomfort, and this game sits on the bench on standby.

Flanagan, who has recovered from a major injury, appeared at the starting left back, which actually brought certain uncertainty to the defense.

Fortunately, Flanagan was at least obedient, and he obeyed Yang Feng's instructions, so there shouldn't be any big problems.

Southampton played at home with the same 442 lineup, but Mane did not start a game. Mane, sitting on the bench, may be replenishing his energy, and in the second half, he will give Liverpool a fatal blow.

Perhaps it was also concerned about Yang Feng’s ability to defend against the opponent’s counterattack. Southampton first sent Pellet and Sean Lang’s striker to match up with Yang Feng to consume Yang Feng’s physical energy. At the last moment, he sent out Manai to use his speed. , Impacting Liverpool's defense.

Southampton’s record is already very good, and now it is ranked 9th in the Premier League. The success of early relegation can show the strength of the team.

Coupled with the consumption of Liverpool from previous Champions League matches, not only the loss of players, but also in today's starting lineup, many players also endure the fatigue of participating in the competition.

So for Liverpool, when this game was going on, it was definitely in its worst condition, and the home team Southampton had every opportunity to create an upset in this game.

Judging from the state of the start of the game, Southampton does have a strong desire to win the game at home.

The game fell into a stalemate from the beginning.

Southampton, who is playing at home, faced Liverpool's remnant team and played quite aggressively. In the game, the team was vying for possession of the ball with Liverpool from the very beginning, to try to attack each other with Liverpool.

You attack once, I fight once.

The two teams formed an evenly matched posture on the scene.

This can be seen from the close ball possession rate of both sides and the increased number of shots kept in sync.

Less than 5 minutes into the game, Liverpool threatened the front court.

Lallana's dribbling broke forward, further compressing Southampton's defense, and Lallana's return pass after an emergency stop happened to find Coutinho, who was followed by the defense.

Coutinho was on the outside of the penalty area, facing Lallana's return pass, bending the bow and hitting the arrow directly to complete a long shot.

The football hits an excellent arc and flies quickly into the goal, but in the end it is slightly higher than the crossbar, which is a little short of the goal.

But Coutinho didn't feel discouraged. He just shot a long shot, just like looking for a long shot.

Just remember the feeling of hitting the goal just now, and then there will be long-range shots in this area. As long as you can more fully cover the ball and complete the force, you can adjust to an excellent shooting angle. Coutinho is confident , In the next long-range shot opportunity, can hit a more threatening shot.

While Liverpool threatened offensively, Southampton’s offense on the other side was not bad.

Taking advantage of a pass error by Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen, Southampton's counterattack was extremely quick.

After Romeu got the ball, he sent a penetrating through ball directly in the midfield area, avoided the defensive range controlled by Yang Feng, and passed the ball directly to the deep left.

Yang Feng couldn't form an intercept for the first time, and then he could only compete with Sean Lang for speed.

But as a forward player, Sean Lang, his acceleration ability is definitely better than Yang Feng.

Unable to block Sean Lang with his body for the first time, and when he was accelerated to chase the football, Yang Feng could only give up defending before the ball was obtained. Instead, he gave up on the pursuit of Sean Lang, but did his best. Run straight and return to the penalty area first.

After receiving the football from the outside, Sean Lang was quite decisive when handling the ball without wasting a single bit of time. He strode the ball directly into Liverpool's penalty area and took the initiative to find Yang Feng's defense again.

Sean Lang's speed is too fast.

It's almost time to walk a longer distance even after receiving the ball on the wing, and when the diagonally inserted into the Liverpool penalty area, there is a chance to run in front of Yang Feng with the ball.

Yang Feng used the energy of feeding and had to catch up to the defensive position in the game.

But the speed disadvantage is irreparable.

Xiao Enlang, still dribbling the ball sideways, took the lead in getting half of Yang Feng's position and reaching the penalty area.

"No way, I have to gamble!"

It is impossible for Yang Feng to let Xiao Enlang run ahead of him and get a single shot.

At this time, because Xiao Enlang was in front of him wide enough, and the angle of his shot was extremely large, it was difficult for Yang Feng to make effective defensive interceptions, and he could only find ways to put pressure on Xiao Enlang.

Yang Feng didn't slow down at all, raised his arms high, his body was straight, but he exerted force directly behind him, giving Xiao Enlang a collision.

"It's down!"

"Xiao Enlang was confronted by Yang Feng with a body behind him, and he was directly knocked to the ground."

"But, the referee..."

"No penalties were made, the gesture given was for the game to continue."

This may be the reason why the Premier League advocates physical confrontation. Yang Feng's collision this time was within the scope of the referee.

It may also be Liverpool's strong team factor and Yang Feng's star halo bonus. In the absence of obvious foul action, referee McDean also chose to open the net.

As the saying goes, if you survive a catastrophe, you will have a blessing.

After suffering a threatening counterattack from Southampton before, Liverpool turned around and played the desired offensive effect on the offensive end.

In the 17th minute of the game, Liverpool succeeded in the frontcourt and threatened to counterattack.

Coutinho received the ball from Joe Allen on the left.

When Sturridge and Origi both quickly penetrated into the Southampton penalty area and put a lot of pressure on Southampton’s defense, when the Southampton defense line was directly compressed into the penalty area. , Coutinho did not choose to send a pass from the side to the middle.

Instead, he took the ball by himself, and he was better than walking in the frontcourt. He kept taking the ball forward and directly entered his long-range shooting area.

Southampton’s defensive players, due to the previous offensive, and the number of defenders is not enough, it is Antich standing on the line of the penalty zone alone, preparing to defend Coutinho’s breakthrough and blocking Coutinho has a certain long-range angle.

However, Antić's defensive position choice obviously underestimated Coutinho's long-range shooting range.

With 5 meters away from the penalty area, Coutinho bent his bow and set an arrow, and suddenly completed a long shot while on the move.

The long shot of this half-high ball hit the goal, and there was a landing bounce within the penalty area. After the rebound, it still maintained the direction of the goal.

This also gave the Southampton goalkeeper a lot of defensive interference.

The ball was extremely fast and it was still a rebound. Although the home team goalkeeper made a save, the ball still flew into the goal.

1-0, Coutinho relied on his personal performance to successfully help the visiting team Liverpool open the record.

And 5 minutes later, Liverpool’s attack came back again~www.NovelMTL.com~ When Southampton thought it was behind and had to attack, it was time for Liverpool's defensive counterattack to be effective.

After Yang Feng successfully completed an opponent's through ball interception, he directly made a big foot to find the striker duo that had already rushed to the frontcourt.

Yang Feng chose to pass the ball to the faster teenager Origi.

A long pass to the left side successfully avoided the Southampton defender Van Dyck's protective area, allowing Origi to explode as soon as possible without defensive pressure after receiving the ball from the side. Speed, launch a counterattack advance.

On the other hand, Origi drove the ball from the wing to the penalty area of ​​Southampton. Before entering the penalty area, he suffered. Two Southampton players, for their encirclement, made Origi directly attracted enough defensive vitality. After that, the ball was quickly completed and the ball was distributed to Sturridge, who was not far from the right side of the penalty area.

Sturridge, who was in the penalty area after receiving the ball, faced the defending Fangte.

The continuous shaking in situ fake movements completely dazzled Fangte.

After that, he unexpectedly swung his left foot on the spot, pushed the shot and hit the goal directly to the lower left corner of the goal.

The goalkeeper of the home team faced this blind spot, unsatisfactory push, and could not react in time. He could only watch the football roll into the net in the air.

2-0, two goals within 5 minutes, Liverpool also achieved a 2-0 lead away.

After scoring Sturridge, in the opponent's penalty area, and Origi who assisted him, the two people showed off the mechanical dance and burst the audience.

Judging from the current progress of the game, Liverpool, who performed well on both ends of the offense and defense, seems to have won a big away win, which is inevitable...