Starting from playing as a defensive midfielder for Real Madrid

Li Ang was indeed more active than usual in today's game.

But he did not intend to teach the young players on the opposite side as many fans thought.

It's purely because he had a rest in the last round of the Champions League and didn't play a game for more than a week. He just held it in for a long time.

In addition, the opponents he faced today were basically future Premier League stars, and the quality of the game was not low, so Li Ang was a little more excited.

But he didn't know that his positivity put psychological pressure on many young players in the Southampton team.

At this moment, Luke Shaw and Ward-Prowse, several young men who were not yet 20 years old, looked at Li Ang with something wrong.

However, in addition to nervousness and a little worry, they still see more challenges that they are eager to try.

After all, who isn’t a young genius?

After growing up in the media and the surrounding fans' optimism and pursuit for so many years, the ambition in the heart of a young man of 18 or 19 years old cannot be underestimated.

The desire to challenge after being frustrated made them have no idea of ​​backing down when facing Li Ang.

In terms of scenes, this kind of scene where young talents actively challenge their famous predecessors is naturally loved by fans and media reporters.

But for Pochettino, he is proud of it, but the more troublesome it is for such a situation to occur.

To train young geniuses, of course, they need to maintain enough courage, pride and spirituality.

But when it is necessary to make tactical concessions, these more emotional emotions will become a destructive factor for the stability of the team's performance.

Lallana, who is older, is more stable at the moment. He does not think it is a good thing for Luke Shaw and Ward-Prowse to attack in such a hurry.

Considering the overall offensive and defensive balance of the team, Southampton at this moment should not have too many individual attempts to attack with the ball.

That would only give up the ball rights that were finally won back to Chelsea.

They should prefer to accumulate defensive forces and block Li Ang's unreasonable advance in the middle.

Even Li Ang will distribute the ball in time, but as long as Li Ang's threatening advancement is limited first, then Hazard can be double-teamed defensively as much as possible.

Then Chelsea's offensive starting point will slowly adjust to the aging Lampard and Ramirez, who is far less threatening than Hazard.

This is the most important thing for Southampton. Otherwise, the defensive pressure exerted by Li Ang on Schneiderlin and Wanyama will always exist.

With the entire center unable to move, no matter how sharp Southampton attacks from the wing, it will not be able to directly reach Chelsea's core.

It's a pity that Lallana can only think about it by himself. He cannot be the master of the tactical adjustment of the entire team.

His head coach Pochettino can only continue to speed up the offensive end.

Li Ang saw that Pochettino had no intention of making any tactical changes, and he knew in his heart that Mourinho had once again touched the opponent's seven inches.

Southampton's current excellent results come from their advancing play from the wing.

And when both wings are strong offensively and defensively weak, you encounter a team with top wingers, such as Chelsea today.

Then Southampton would not dare to slow down the pace and turn the game into a positional battle.

Southampton's victory mode this season is basically to let the two wings break up the opponent's defensive formation, wait for opportunities to send threatening crosses, strive for the first goal, and then solidify the defense to counterattack.

Because there is Lambert's heavy hammer attack in the penalty area, and behind Lambert there is the efficient killer Jay Rodriguez to hit the goal.

Therefore, Southampton's profit from sending threatening passes in the opponent's core is very high.

After scoring a goal, Southampton will use the defense and control advantages of the double midfielders to continuously seduce the opponent to press and attack.

They waited for opportunities to counterattack quickly and smoothly.

It can be seen whether Southampton can take advantage of a game or even win.

Whether their two-wing offense can overwhelm their opponents in the game is crucial.

It is precisely because Mourinho has seen through this that when arranging today's starting lineup, he directly let the younger Bertrand and Azpilicueta start.

At present, it seems that his starting arrangement is quite effective. Southampton's two wings are basically unable to penetrate Chelsea's defense and get in touch with their forwards.

And since Pochettino doesn't want to engage in a positional battle with Chelsea, Mourinho just wants to slow down the pace of today's game and put it into a positional battle to decide the victory!

This will make the game look draggy and less fluid, which is exactly what Mourinho wants most.

In such a stalemate, Li Ang's technical characteristics are very suitable for fighting tough battles.

Unless Pochettino is willing to completely overthrow his tactics, give up the advantages on both wings, and concentrate his forces in the center to first limit Li Ang's offensive performance.

But in that case, Hazard will be able to rush in very easily alone, and the connection between him and Ibrahimovic won't be scary?

So this is still a tactical multiple-choice question after all.

Pochettino chose to use offense instead of defense and continued to make fuss on both wings, preventing Hazard from having too much room to play.

Mourinho also simply gave Li Ang the freedom to attack in the frontcourt.

Facts have proved that Lallana's defensive interference on Li Ang is minimal, unless he commits a tactical foul, and Schneiderlin can only double-team Li Ang with Wanyama.

Because no matter who the two midfielders are, they can't limit Li Ang's brutal advancement one-on-one.

Chelsea, who was sitting at home and had the home whistle, really didn't hesitate to push across the middle.

Before the game, Wanyama thought Li Ang would play some technical offense with them.

After all, Li Ang had dribbling performance in the previous two games and achieved considerable tactical results.

But when Li Ang simply and neatly played physical confrontation with him, he sadly discovered that he could only barely keep up with Li Ang's rhythm in dynamic confrontation!

Li Ang's strength and endurance far exceeded Wanyama's expectations!

So much so that he had to put down his face and ask his partner Schneiderlin and himself to double-team Li Ang early.

As the two double-teamed, Southampton's entire central defense gradually collapsed.

Because Li Ang can always pick the ball out during their double-teaming.

Whether it is splitting the sides for Ramirez, Hazard, or directly forwarding Ibrahimovic, Chelsea's steady progress will not stop because of this.

The first half didn't even finish for half an hour, and Pochettino had already finished two bottles of mineral water, feeling uncontrollably anxious.

He could once again experience Li Ang's terrifying growth ability.

After all, he is a coach who has played against Real Madrid in La Liga.

Pochettino is a personal witness to how much Li Ang has improved in the past three years.

And seeing Li Ang constantly wreaking havoc in the heart of his own half, Pochettino had to admit that it was difficult for him to find a way to limit Li Ang's performance.

Perhaps the only option is to mobilize heavy troops to defend the center line.

Even if Pochettino is unwilling, he must consider the necessity of implementing this tactic at this moment.

"Playing away from home, if we can get a point, then we will be lucky.

It doesn't matter if you stick to one thing occasionally..."

A voice suddenly sounded in Pochettino's mind, but what followed was his insistence on his tactical philosophy and his doubts about his own defense.

"If we only rely on the number of people to defend, can we really defend a point? Chelsea has too many tactics to break the bus. This is very risky!"

Two voices intertwined in Pochettino's mind at the same time, making him increasingly uncertain.

When it comes to on-the-spot adjustments, Pochettino has the same problem as many head coaches.

That is that they are too entangled and hesitant between the satisfaction and persistence of their own tactical concepts and the actual game situation on the court that is not conducive to their side.

They sometimes suspect that their players did not resolutely implement their own tactical ideas, which led to this unfavorable situation.

For Mourinho, he usually first assumes that the players have fully utilized their abilities, and then considers whether there are flaws or loopholes in the pre-match tactics.

Which part of the tactics is used by the opponent, Mourinho will make preview adjustments in his mind. If he can change the tactics, he will change the tactics. If the tactics cannot be changed, then he will just change the players!

Of course, this is also due to Mourinho's dabble in various tactics. Even though he likes a sure victory the most, this does not prevent him from often directing the team to play vigorous and aggressive attacks.

There are many tactics that can be played, and there are many tactical cards at hand. In addition, Mourinho only wants to win, and he doesn't care what the victory process is like.

Therefore, his on-the-spot adjustments always appear to be particularly timely and effective.

But this does not mean that Pochettino is not good. In fact, head coaches like Mourinho who are too decisive in on-the-spot adjustments are the outliers and the minority in football.

So it is normal for Pochettino to hesitate at this moment.

Forget about him, the vast majority of Southampton fans will be hesitant for a while now between whether to continue to strengthen the wing offensive and to defend from the bottom of their hearts.

But by the 42nd minute of the first half, they no longer needed to worry about this.

Because Chelsea used enough patience and tactical suppression to usher in the fruits of their deserved advantage!

Li Ang, Ibrahimovic and Ramirez patiently conducted 5 short-distance non-stop passes outside the right side of Southampton's penalty area.

And just after the football returned to Li Ang's feet again, he pointed east and west, allowing Hazard to be used as a tactical bait.

While looking at Hazard, Liang used his heel to knock the ball in front of Lampard who was running in from behind in the middle!

Before the game, Pochettino emphasized many times that Li Ang must not be given an unmarked kicking opportunity in front of the penalty area.

Southampton's defensive players obviously listened.

Their strict marking of Li Ang indeed prevented Li Ang from getting a chance to shoot in the entire first half.

So he gave this opportunity to Lampard, the big brother in the team!

And the moment he saw Lampard adjust his pace and take off calmly in front of the top of the penalty area, Pochettino went numb!

Li Ang did not just use Azar as a tactical bait this time.

He counted himself in and completely attracted the defensive attention of Schneiderlin and Wanyama!

And Poland's national goalkeeper Boruc also felt very powerless at this moment.

That tmd is Lampard!

How dare his own defensive players allow him to calmly start in this position? !

Boruc, who gritted his teeth and made a save, could only do his best to defend the goal while praying in his heart that Lady Luck would take care of Southampton again!

Unfortunately, the crisp sound of the football rubbing against the net eventually rang in his ears!

And Boruc had no way to keep Southampton's goal intact like he did when he refused Ibrahimovic's close-range shot at the opening!

"The ball has gone in!!! Frank Lampard! Used his signature shot from the penalty area to open the scoring for Chelsea in this game!!!"

This is also Lampard's fifth goal this season! Amazing efficiency! The sword is not old yet! ! ! "

"How bold! How dare you let Lampard start calmly in this position?! Southampton's defensive players are too bold!"

Zhan Jun and General Fan exclaimed repeatedly in the Sina Sports studio!

On the court, Lampard, who scored a beautiful goal, also excitedly ran to the baseline, punched and roared in celebration!

When Mourinho was celebrating on the sidelines, there was some surprise in his eyes.

He actually didn't expect that it would be Lampard who opened the scoring for Chelsea today!

After all, Lampard and Matic were stuck in their own half today and did not have many offensive opportunities.

As a result, Li Ang was patiently laying out the bait, and once again activated Lampard, the long-range killer who scored 15 goals in the Premier League last season!

Pochettino, who was still thinking about whether to hold on to get one point, now has no worries.

After dragging down the remaining minutes of the first half, Southampton started the second half and launched a ferocious offensive!

Pochettino knows very well that when facing Mourinho, once the score falls behind, it is necessary to strengthen the attack as soon as possible.

Don't delay!

Because Mourinho is a master.

You want to fight to the death after 70 minutes, but by that time, your players have been demoralized and their physical fitness cannot support them.

As a result, Mourinho's team was still running quite vigorously!

Pochettino, who had struggled to win against Real Madrid before, had suffered enough in this regard.

So he had already mobilized his players during the halftime break of the game.

Don't take any chances, the desperate Southampton is still quite threatening on the offensive end.

But what Chelsea want now is for them to make this aggressive decision.

Again:

Don't you attack? Then how do I counterattack to seal the victory?

In the second half, Chelsea stuck to the half-court, waiting for opportunities to counterattack Southampton.

At this moment, Li Ang also completed the position change with Lampard and retreated to the more important midfielder position.

This made Li Ang suddenly feel like he was Brother Long.

He is the real hub of Chelsea's offense and defense. In defense, he has to constantly look for precious opportunities to counterattack and seal the victory.

He does not necessarily need to directly assist the forward in the frontcourt to kill him with one blow. What he needs to do more is to find the most suitable counterattack path.

And when he can accurately pass the ball to this counterattack path, he also has to make sure that his teammates can move forward in time and send the football more accurately into Southampton's penalty area...

The trivial defense and frequent observations did not make Li Ang feel exhausted mentally and physically.

On the contrary, the more he played, the more excited he became, and his mind became calmer.

In the 71st minute of the second half, when Southampton completed a cross from Luke Shaw, but Terry completed the challenge for the top one step ahead of Lambert, Li Ang immediately started to push forward!

Ramirez, who received the ball from Terry, did not hesitate and made a diagonal pass directly in front of Li Ang!

Wanyama gritted his teeth and shoveled!

However, Li Ang took off flexibly after stabbing the ball, avoiding Wanyama's tackle, and then kicked off the ground to accelerate and continue to advance!

But just when everyone thought he would continue to dribble forward, he adjusted his steps and immediately sent a long diagonal pass straight to Southampton's right wing!

Hazard also completed his extremely fast overtaking of Chambers at this moment!

His advantage in speed allowed him to quickly leave Chambers far behind when running without the ball.

Hazard, who made consecutive stops, quickly took the ball and cut into the Southampton penalty area.

Before Southampton's two central defenders could return to defend, Hazard sent an inverted triangle pass!

At this time, Ibrahimovic, who had been following up from behind, also accelerated suddenly and completed the finishing blow in the middle of the penalty area!

Faced with such a close shot, Boruc was possessed by peak Cheher Buffon, and it was difficult for him to make a successful save!

As soon as the goal was scored, the game basically lost all suspense.

Because Mourinho couldn't care less about celebrating too much, he had already called Karas and Ivanovic to warm up on the sidelines!

At the last moment, Li Ang no longer thought about counterattacking. He and Matic stayed in their own half and withstood Southampton's desperate counterattack!

Lambert, who came on as a substitute for the mediocre Osvaldo in the second half, but failed to score in the end, was anxious.

But even though he was injured, he still couldn't give full play to his strength.

Southampton, which lacks finishing ability, sent a lot of crosses at the last moment, but it also made very few grabs.

After three minutes of injury time, the referee on duty blew the whistle to end the game!

As soon as this tough battle was won, Chelsea's advantage at the top of the list was immediately consolidated by a few points. Li Ang, who was in a good mood today, also accepted an interview from Sky Sports after the game.

Reporters asked many questions today, including the league, the EFL Cup that will be played next, and even the Champions League.

Upon seeing this, Li Ang responded jokingly.

"Champions League? Well, if I can choose myself...then I want to pick someone strong enough to play Bayern Munich directly in the first round of the knockout round. How about that?!"