Football’s First Defender

Liverpool, which has regained the feeling of abuse, has established a certain advantage for the team to compete for the Champions League qualification with a wave of three consecutive victories.

In the 34th round of the league, before the start of the home game against Chelsea, Liverpool has secured its third position in the league standings.

Liverpool ranked third with 63 points, Chelsea ranked fourth with 61 points, and Tottenham only ranked fifth with 58 points due to unstable performance.

However, in this round of the league, the direct confrontation between Liverpool and Chelsea may be the opportunity for Tottenham to catch up with the points.

In the first match of this round, Tottenham, which is quite nerve-wracking, sat at the White Hart Lane Stadium and defeated Manchester City, which is now the second highest in the league and second in the league, 3-1. They scored three points and raised their points. It rose to 61 points, further closing the point gap with the two teams in front.

And Tottenham's victory also put greater psychological pressure on the Chelsea and Liverpool players who played the game afterwards.

This game has become a game that both Liverpool and Chelsea can't afford to lose.

Although the offensive change against Reading in the last game was very cool, Rogers will naturally use a more stable tactical system when facing an opponent of Chelsea's level.

The three midfielders were readjusted back to the physically fit Lucas to take charge of the defense.

In addition to attacking, Henderson and Gerrard must also be able to undertake certain defensive tasks today. Liverpool's defense in the midfield has carried out a detailed distribution of responsibilities in order to limit Chelsea's current midfield with a rich reserve of personnel. group.

The three strikers used Tang Ning, who has better confrontation ability and better defensive ability, to start. In this kind of crucial battle, Tang Ning's experience must be more worthy of the head coach's trust than a melon egg like Sterling.

There are no changes in other positions, and Liverpool does not have so many personnel reserves to adjust. It is fortunate for Rogers that the defense has remained healthy in the final stage of the league without any problems.

As for Chelsea, this game will continue their 451 lineup.

Yang Feng's old teammates when he was at Chelsea back then are now very few left under Benitez's command, and they are basically on the fringes.

The team captain Terry and the meritorious player Lampard can only stand by on the bench.

Moreover, Lampard's departure from the team, which had been making a lot of noise before, is also showing the attitude of Chelsea's senior management towards these veterans.

Professional sports are sometimes so cruel. Although Lampard still scored a lot of goals this season, his competitive state has declined, and it is also a reality that he cannot guarantee that he will maintain an excellent state throughout the season.

Although Lampard hopes to die at Stamford Bridge, the team's refusal to give a contract extension also proves that the team hopes that Lampard can leave, so that the team can carry out more thorough youthful reforms.

Look at Chelsea's midfield five today.

Mikel and Ramirez, who are in charge of defense, form a double defensive midfielder, both of whom are in their prime, and can maintain their peak for several seasons.

Mata, Hazard, and Oscar are in charge of attacking in the midfield. Such talented and also very young players, it can be said that Benitez's rejuvenation reform has done a good job.

It's just that due to the use of veterans and poor handling of the relationship with fans, there are rumors that even if Chelsea keep the top 4, Benitez may still leave the team.

In this game, under the tense situation of the fourth place in the league, there are enough nostalgic factors to steal the spotlight.

The immature Yang Feng, when he came to the British Isles, he showed his outstanding self to the whole of Europe at Chelsea, and as a main player, he won the Premier League championship and the Champions League championship with the team. The Blue Army, the last glorious witness.

As for Chelsea, coach Benitez is also a witness of Liverpool's recovery period. Although he did not lead the team to win the Premier League championship that the kops most covet, but a cup treble, and the Istanbul miracle that everyone recalls to this day , but it also makes Benitez destined to be the most colorful stroke in the history of Liverpool football.

The starting striker Torres sent by Benitez in this game is also an old friend of the kops on the scene, but he is treated as a traitor by many Liverpool fans.

This kind of hostility towards Torres was very serious among the Liverpool fan groups when the transfer was just completed.

But with the excellent performance of Yang Feng, who was replaced, and the comparison between Liverpool's record and Chelsea's record, this kind of "defection" to Torres is not so concerned.

In the pre-match warm-up, when Torres received a pass from his teammates, there would still be some boos, but compared to the boos that were almost full of fans in the past, the decibels are no longer as loud as before. .

Yang Feng knew that besides Petr Cech and Ivanovic in Chelsea's defense, the other three were brought in after he left.

Obviously only two and a half seasons away, but Chelsea has already changed.

Put away the nostalgia for the past time, put away the miss for those lovely Blues fans, now that I am wearing a red shirt, I have to use my best performance to win the game for the current team, this is what I need made.

The key battle between Liverpool and Chelsea for the top four has naturally received unprecedented attention.

Especially in the case of Tottenham, which has already defeated Manchester City strongly, the result of this game may be related to the final ranking of the league for the three teams.

After the start of the game, both Liverpool and Chelsea tried a lot, and neither dared to launch a full-fire attack on the offensive end to prevent the opponent from catching the loopholes in their own defense and relying on counterattacks to win the first place.

The offense of both sides is very restrained, on the premise of doing a good job of defense first, and appropriately invest in offensive forces.

However, this kind of small-scale offensive cooperation based on a few players can also create a certain degree of threat because of the strong personal abilities of the players on both sides.

Of course, with this level of threat, although you can sometimes get a chance to hit the goal, it seems a bit unqualified to score goals against two goalkeepers who are in the same state.

In the tentative attack 20 minutes before the game, the two teams mainly shot from long distances. Although each had a long shot that hit the goal within the range of the goal frame, they were still resolved by their respective goalkeepers.

The rhythm of the game was dull, not the expected confrontation between the two sides, it did make many neutral fans look unsatisfactory.

However, in the game, such a dull situation is destined not to last long for the two giants teams.

On the one hand, both teams want to win in the game, and the players of both sides will naturally not be willing to achieve a draw with only 1 point.

On the other hand, the excellent personal ability of the players is enough to ensure that in the game, the players can seize all the opportunities that appear in front of them, even if this opportunity does not seem so outstanding.

In the 22nd minute of the game, Chelsea's attempted long-range shot hit the Liverpool defender's bottom line, and Chelsea got a corner kick.

Chelsea's high-altitude bombing ability back then was well-known in the Premier League.

It's a pity that with the departure of Drogba and the change of blood on the defensive line, it can be regarded as the Blues player with the best header, and it may be the defender Ivanovic with a knife.

Chelsea's starting central defender David Luiz today, as well as Brand's header skills, are not so good.

Not to mention the single striker Torres in front, he was not a player who was good at fighting for high-altitude balls.

Yang Feng was directly facing his old teammates. He used to fight side by side, but now he is fighting head-to-head.

Perhaps Chelsea's corner kick tactical system and running positions are different from those of the past, but a player's running habits will not change much.

Yang Feng accurately found Ivanovic's real running direction, and his excellent predictive ability made Ivanovic have no chance to get rid of it under Yang Feng's defense.

However, the real threat to Chelsea is not the bright Ivanovic who is on the court now.

"Mata's corner!"

"A curve ball with a great arc, find the position of the back point."

"Players on both sides were empty at the back."

"Oscar's plug, dive to the top!"

"GOAL!!!"

"Oscar!"

"Scored a header!"

"Liverpool's defense made a huge mistake. In the game, Oscar completed a long-distance run-up and succeeded in reaching the top."

"Chelsea, in the away game, temporarily leading 1-0."

No one expected that before the corner kick was taken, Oscar, who was still outside the penalty area and was preparing to meet the second point, went straight forward to the back point, jumped forward, and completed this wonderful header in the air. The ball hits the goal.

In the crucial four-game matchup, Liverpool fell behind at home. This was definitely a huge blow to the Liverpool fans at the scene.

This conceded goal also had a huge impact on the Liverpool players. At this time, everyone's mind was to use offense to get back the score as soon as possible.

There was no thought incongruity, and with such calm and objective players as Gerrard and Yang Feng, Liverpool's players on the field quickly became one mind, and the team must strengthen their offense.

More offensive power input, more bold attempts to pass the ball, although the threat of a counterattack to the defense will also increase, but at this time, everyone can only unconditionally trust Yang Feng and other Liverpool defenders.

Liverpool's offense began to unfold like a storm, hoping to crush Chelsea's defense.

However, although the coaches and players have changed one after another, Chelsea's defensive system still has the background of Mourinho's period. Iron-blooded defense has become an indelible label for Chelsea. The fundamental magic weapon for the altar to stand.

Torres may continue to decline in Chelsea's scoring status, but in terms of defensive interference in the midfield, Torres tried his best to prove himself. Even a striker can use the best defense to help the team...

Not being able to enter the penalty area is the biggest embarrassment for Liverpool after the offensive started.

The very tough wing defenders, the two tougher defensive midfielders, and the offensive players in the midfield, ran and pressed regardless of physical strength, destroying Liverpool's offense before it reached the dangerous area.

And several breakthrough passes from the wing, in return, Chelsea are in the penalty area, relying on the cooperation of more defensive players to limit Liverpool players' competition for the top.

Among them, Ivanovic, as the high point of the team, often handed over the side defense to Hazard who retreated, and returned to the middle of the penalty area to complete the task of clearing the header.

Ivanovic's life oh, there is also confrontation. In this kind of high-altitude ball competition injury, Suarez actually has an advantage.

It was difficult for Suarez's dexterity to perform in front of Ivanovic. After all, he was also a player who had trained with Yang Feng back then. Ivan's improvement in judging the placement was still very obvious at that time.

In the case of occupying a good position in advance, Suarez could only fight against Ivan, but was completely abused afterwards.

Even in the subsequent non-passing ball, Ivan and Suarez faced off, but Ivan had the upper hand.

The style of Suarez's South American players is fine against ordinary European defensive players, but when facing Eastern European players with a rough style like Ivanovic, he feels powerless when facing a soldier.

Suarez has a lot of small moves, but Ivan's small moves are not too much.

Suarez is flexible, but Ivan's direct and rough upper body does not give Suarez a better running space at all.

In addition, although Liverpool is playing at home today, the referee's whistle is extremely "fair" and he is very open to physical confrontation, which puts Liverpool players at an absolute disadvantage in physical confrontation.

Ivan is very effective in fighting against Suarez. To what extent is it effective? Benitez on the sidelines took the time to pass a small note, let Ivandai play the center back, focus on Suarez, and let Brand go to the right back In the position, defend.

Liverpool's usual offense is very willing to use Suarez as a turning point, because Suarez can further create threats no matter his personal offense or breakthrough points.

But not today. Since the referee's whistle has not been thought of, Ivanovic's natural movements are getting bigger and bigger, more and more "reasonable", completely colliding with his body, destroying Suarez's attacks one after another, and making Liverpool's offense completely stalled.

At the end of the halftime game, Liverpool did hit 8 shots in the halftime, 2 shots on target, and the number of shots was 3 more than Chelsea. The ball possession rate and the number of passes also clearly had the upper hand.

But the team is still behind 0 to 1, and the audience who actually watched the half-time live broadcast will not be confused by the number of shots and offensive statistics. It is true that Liverpool took 8 shots, but almost all of them were long-range shots. In the penalty area, there were too many threatening shots.

In this battle between red and blue on the road to the four key points, the Red Army Liverpool is now at an absolute disadvantage.