Football: Starting from the Ronaldo Template

Chapter 304: The Invisible Manchester United No. 7

Chapter 304: The Invisible Manchester United No. 7

The players of the two teams met in the player tunnel, and naturally there was no communication between them.

Chu Feng seemed to smell the smell of gunpowder in the air.

Today's game is more important to them than the league. After all, although the Premier League has gradually become the top of the five major leagues, it is still not as valuable as the Champions League.

However, the competition systems of the two are also different.

Van Dijk looked at Chu Feng, who was wearing the captain's armband, at the front of the team and whispered to Matip, "Always keep an eye on him during the game. Don't hesitate to foul him when you should. Anyway, all our yellow cards are cleared."

Fortunately, there are new regulations in the Champions League that will clear accumulated yellow cards by the semi-finals, otherwise Van Dijk and Matip will still be restricted.

Now they can show their strength and use every possible means to restrict Chu Feng.

Matip nodded vigorously, his expression full of fear.

But he doesn't lack confidence in himself.

Who is the best centre-back in the Premier League?

Without a doubt it's Van Dyke.

However, Van Dijk's success is inseparable from the support of his teammates, especially the replacement and cooperation of other defenders.

Since joining Liverpool, Matip has become Klopp's starting central defender.

He has a very impressive statistic.

So far, according to the data of central defenders in the Premier League, Matip's success rate in heading is as high as 91%, which is several percentage points higher than Maguire.

In addition, Matip previously played as a defensive midfielder, so he also performed well on the offensive end.

It can be said that Matip is Van Dijk's best partner.

Because of his injury, he had not recovered to his best, so in the last match against Manchester United, he played at less than 70% of his overall strength.

"If Manchester United want to cross from the flanks, the full-backs can let them shoot. I am confident that I can stop Manchester United's No. 7."

Matip is not arrogant, but Liverpool's tactics require the two full-backs to press forward to form a pressing system.

If he can grab the high ball in the penalty area, the defender will be under much less pressure.

When the Champions League theme song came to an end, players from both teams walked out of the tunnel one after another, causing cheers from Old Trafford.

"Good evening, viewers!"

“Welcome to watch the first leg of the 2018-19 Champions League semi-final!”

"Manchester United vs. Liverpool at home!"

"There were 76,000 people at Old Trafford today and most of them wanted Manchester United to win."

"Here are the starting lineups for both teams."

“穆里尼奥没有再使用4-3-2-1，因为这套阵型偏向于防守，且不能缺少后场核心坎特，他今天排出的是4-2-3-1的平衡阵型，门将：.”

"Both offense and defense are very balanced, but I didn't expect Scott to start. However, judging from his recent performance, he is fully worthy of a starting spot."

“I am looking forward to seeing how he performs today.”

After Neville introduced the basic situation of Manchester United, Carragher took over the topic and began to introduce Liverpool.

"Liverpool still chose the 4-3-3 formation, goalkeeper:"

"The Red Arrows have been in great form recently, becoming the highest scoring striker partnership in Europe, especially Salah, whose duties have changed. He is no longer a striker like before, but is more likely to retreat and organize the attack with the ball."

"It gives Liverpool more variety in attack."

"As we all know, Manchester United players are relatively tall, which leads to their poor mobility. As long as Liverpool can run in the frontcourt, they can disrupt Manchester United's backcourt defense."

"Opportunities to score goals will appear frequently!"

A few days ago, Carragher went to Liverpool's training base and then became what he is now.

Full of confidence!

It would be several levels more difficult for Manchester United to ensure the order of their defense in the face of Liverpool's "offensive" quartet.

As Neville and Carragher were arguing, the camera shifted back to the pitch.

After Chu Feng and Henderson exchanged team flags, they guessed the sides under the guidance of the referee. This time Chu Feng's luck was not so good.

Henderson decisively chose to kick off.

Liverpool will rush to start in most games because it is more in line with their style, and Klopp has made targeted arrangements before the game.

Even if you can't score a goal, as long as you can gain an advantage, you can continue to snowball and gradually control the tempo of the game, and scoring a goal is just a matter of time.

So why is football like war in peacetime?

Beep! ! !

With a loud whistle, the game officially begins!

Firmino passed the ball back to Fabinho.

Liverpool's formation instantly changed as they rushed towards Manchester United's half, with their two wingers in completely different positions.

Mane roamed around Wan-Bissaka, while Salah was closer to the middle.

Asymmetric attack.

This is a tactic pioneered and developed by Spanish football.

When fans talk about tactical masters, Guardiola is always the first one mentioned, but in fact Klopp is also very good.

Absolutely top European level.

Gegenpressing!

The tactical philosophy based on running is like crazy heavy metal music, which can burst out tremendous energy in an instant.

Fabinho did not get entangled with Pogba and quickly passed the ball to Salah on the right.

McTominay immediately moved closer.

But Salah used a simple change of center of gravity to create some space and accelerate forward directly.

Football is a sport that depends on talent.

Most people’s achievements after a lifetime of hard work may not be as great as those geniuses’ achievements in just a few years.

At this moment, Xiaomai felt tremendous pressure, as if a stone was hanging in his heart, making him so nervous that he had trouble breathing.

But he turned around quickly and followed.

However, the Egyptian Pharaoh's sudden stop and dunk once again threw McTominay away.

Whether in terms of agility of movement or physical strength, Salah is the leading one.

Chu Feng saw it clearly in the frontcourt, Liverpool's midfielders all moved forward from the back.

Three contact points were formed in an instant.

Manchester United's weakness of not choosing three defensive midfielders was blatantly exposed at this moment.

Matic blocked Wijnaldum and Fabinho, but was helpless against Liverpool captain Henderson at the far end. Before Luke Shaw came forward to assist, Salah kicked the ball not far in front of Henderson who was making a forward run.

"The advance amount is just right, Liverpool are going to continue organizing?"

"no!"

"Henderson made a long pass, the target was Mane on the left!!!"

Carragher's roar rang out.

When he thought about Liverpool's quick attack and possible goal, his mood was like boiling water.

Why can Mane become Liverpool's starting winger?

First of all, his physical fitness, burst, speed, strength, jumping, physical fitness, air stay, reaction, etc. are all excellent.

Secondly, his athletic ability. He has excellent mobility, moves very fast without the ball, and has outstanding muscle endurance. He can sprint repeatedly and maintain the quality of his movements after high-speed sprinting.

The last is tactical awareness, which is also the core competitiveness.

How to insert forward, diagonally, and reversely.

Mane's tactical awareness has not only improved greatly this season, but he has also formed a tacit understanding with his teammates.

He accelerated when Salah made the cross and hit the offside line at the same time.

Wan Bissaka was caught off guard and thrown away.

Under the nervous gazes of fans from both sides, Mane steadily unloaded the ball in front of him, made a slight adjustment and then shot with his left foot!

boom!

The football flew towards Manchester United's goal like a cannonball.

Wan Bissaka made a tackle at the critical moment, and his toes just touched the ball, causing it to go to the sideline. The ball hit De Gea's arm and bounced out of the bottom line.

"Oh, what a pity! Liverpool almost scored a goal with their initial attack!"

"But I think Liverpool's attack set the tone for this game, and their next attack will only be more fierce."

"I don't know if Manchester United can hold on."

Carragher said arrogantly.

As he said, although Liverpool failed to score, it greatly boosted morale.

This is also a psychological game.

The Manchester United players were not as fragile as imagined. Chu Feng reminded Wan Bissaka: "Mane is faster, you can go deeper and let Mahrez retreat to make up for the defense."

Even though this will lead to a reduction in offensive intensity, Manchester United must now consider defense first.

Liverpool and Manchester City are different.

If we play tight defense against Manchester City, we will probably be treated like a dog and run around.

However, Liverpool does not have that kind of passing and controlling ability. They rely more on mobility, allowing players to break through the defense with technology.

The denser Manchester United's backcourt defense is, the less space Liverpool will have.

"Ok."

Wan Bissaka wiped the sweat off his face in shock.

Fortunately, the final tackle was quick enough, otherwise he would have become the sinner of Manchester United.

As a result, he raised his vigilance to the highest level, closely watching Mane's every move and not letting Senegal out of his sight.

Liverpool takes a corner kick.

Van Dijk was afraid of Manchester United's counterattack, so he stayed in the midfield and closely guarded Chu Feng.

Neither Matip nor Maguire were able to get the ball, and in the end Luke Shaw cleared the ball with a long kick.

The football flew across half court towards the center circle.

Chu Feng quickly predicted the first landing point and ran over in advance, but Van Dijk did not slow down at all.

The two of them wrestled madly on the spot!

"This guy's physical fitness is really scary. I'm obviously taller and heavier!"

Van Dijk was pushed back half a step and complained silently in his heart.

His physical fitness can be said to be T0 level in football. He is 1.92 meters tall and weighs 91 kilograms. In addition to his strong strength, he also has excellent explosive power.

This season, he single-handedly defended many speed forwards and even set a record of 13 rounds without being passed, but it was finally broken by Chu Feng in the Red Derby.

So Van Dijk didn't want to fight Chu Feng head-on, but instead directed his teammates to cut off Chu Feng's passing points.

No matter how strong you are, can you accomplish everything by yourself?

Of course not.

Chu Feng headed the ball back to Pogba, but the latter was disturbed by Fabinho, resulting in a decline in the quality of his pass.

"Mahrez failed to get the ball and Robertson knocked it out of the sideline."

"Through these two quick transitions, we can see Liverpool's mobility and Manchester United's limitations in attacking from the front."

"Let's talk about Liverpool first. They returned to defense very quickly after losing the ball and set up a defensive line in the backcourt in time, delaying Manchester United's counterattack."

"Let's talk about Manchester United. Because the two wingers were positioned far back, Chu had no one to support him in the frontcourt. And because Van Dijk put enough pressure on him, Chu had no chance to stop the ball. This was a very critical defensive strategy."

"In Manchester United's previous attacks, Chu often acted as an organizer and planned secondary attacks in the frontcourt, but now he doesn't have that opportunity."

Carragher spoke into the microphone.