Football’s First Defender

In the UEFA Champions League match in midweek, Liverpool wasted a good situation and did not become the first in the group, but entered the next stage of the knockout round with the thrilling second place in the group.

But for Rodgers, the team did not start a confrontation with Naples in the game, but used the pass-and-control tactics to successfully defend the "two-goal lead". It is enough to complete the Champions League promotion goal. The most important It is to retain enough physical fitness to deal with the opponents in the weekend league.

It's just a pity that Sturridge, on the second day of his return from Italy, suffered some minor injuries to his hip and needed to rest for a while. This is another challenge for Liverpool's offensive line. Huge hit.

And Liverpool's opponent in the weekend league is Tottenham, one of the six giants, and this game is still played at Tottenham's home court, the White Hart Lane Stadium with a terrifying atmosphere.

The team's continuous injuries will be a huge test for Rodgers' tactical adjustments and player selection.

Among Liverpool's usual starting lineups at the beginning of the season, Gerrard, Sturridge and Jose Enrique were all unable to play in this game.

And Glenn Johnson, who can come back in this game, was assigned to play on the left side after some consideration by Rogers, and the right side was still handed over to Flanagan.

For Rogers, after all, Glenn Johnson has rich experience in playing on the left, and even if he is a bit against the left, it does not affect Glenn Johnson's offensive strength.

Unlike Flanagan, who can only defend on the left, the offensive effect is very inconspicuous.

When facing a strong opponent like Tottenham, Rogers does not want the team to walk with a limp. He must at least ensure that the team's two wings can create a certain offensive threat to the opponent.

Skrtel's injury has recovered these days, and he is still starting this game with Yang Feng.

In terms of midfield selection, Gerrard was unable to play. Rogers could only let Henderson fill Gerrard's position, and let Joe Allen play as the team's attacking midfielder.

Center forward Suarez remained unchanged, Sturridge's position was handed over to Coutinho, and the offensive player on the right was played by the more impactful Sterling.

Tottenham's performance in the league this season can never be said to be outstanding.

After selling Bell, although the team introduced quite a few capable players and performed well in the first few games of the season, they encountered many problems afterwards.

Perhaps also limited by the drag of the Europa League, Tottenham's league record is ups and downs.

It is possible to achieve two consecutive victories, three consecutive victories, or the embarrassment of losing four rounds.

At present, Tottenham, with 27 points, is only ranked seventh in the Premier League, and even has fewer points than Everton and Newcastle.

Especially Tottenham's home record, 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses, for a wealthy team, the winning rate at home is less than 50%, which is absolutely unreasonable.

Before the game against Liverpool in this scene, Tottenham had just recovered their form, ended four rounds of winless, and won two consecutive league victories, while Liverpool also won a big victory after three consecutive draws. It can be said that the two teams have recently won the league , have recovered.

Now in a head-to-head confrontation, we have to look at the two teams, which team has recovered better.

As soon as the game started, Tottenham, who were playing at home, unexpectedly failed to grasp the initiative.

In the Premier League, except for the strong and weak games, generally speaking, the home team can take the opening advantage.

However, today, Liverpool, who are playing away, have learned the strategy of their Champions League opponents, Dortmund, on the basis that the players on the field are young enough. From the beginning of the game, they directly launched a press in the midfield.

For Tottenham this season, the tacit understanding of the team has always been a big problem. Under the pressure of Liverpool players, this lack of tacit understanding has been completely revealed.

Under the pressing pressure of Liverpool players, Tottenham players made frequent mistakes, and Liverpool's ball possession rate rapidly increased to more than 70%.

This is the 70% ball possession rate that was grabbed by Liverpool, not the ball possession rate that Tottenham actively gave up based on tactics. This shows how embarrassing Tottenham are at home.

On the basis of getting a lot of possession, Liverpool also began to form a continuous attack on Tottenham.

Although Sturridge is missing, Coutinho and Sterling are left and right, one relying on technology and the other relying on speed, but it also makes Tottenham's wing defense into a bitter battle from the beginning .

Liverpool's offense, in this game, is to break through from the side to forcibly tear apart Tottenham's defense.

Behind the two strikers, there are also full support from Glenn Johnson and Flanagan, allowing them to fully demonstrate their breakthrough ability.

Even if you encounter a double-team, you only need to return the pass immediately, and your teammates can also create a pass threat.

The wing is the main point of attack, and Suarez in the middle, as well as Liverpool's midfielders, are all interspersed into the penalty area, looking for an excellent position that can receive the pass from the wing.

In the opening stage of Liverpool, the shooting opportunities created were quite threatening, which made Tottenham's defense exhausted.

And the continuous attack also bears fruit early.

In the 17th minute of the game, Sterling's threat of holding the ball on the right forced Tottenham to send Paulinho to help defend.

Facing the double-teaming of the two, Sterling retreated with the ball, and the opponent's upper body confronted him. Before falling to the ground, Sterling hooked the ball and passed the ball to the middle position.

Retreating to the midfield position, Suarez, who responded to Sterling, received a pass from Sterling.

After stopping the ball, he sent a through ball directly to find Henderson who was inserted into Tottenham's ribs and entered the penalty area.

Tottenham defender Yang Sen reacted very quickly, fell to the ground and stretched his legs to intercept the pass.

However, Suarez passed the ball at such a close distance, and Yang Sen could only touch it on the ground, but he couldn't completely control the ball.

Henderson, who was in front of him, saw that the ball did not miss, and immediately turned around to grab the ball next to Yang Sen.

Although Yang Sen got up quickly enough, Henderson still controlled the ball first.

Yang Sen went directly to the body to fight, preventing Henderson from making further moves, and waiting for other teammates to help defend in place.

And Henderson, with his back to Yang Sen, flicked the ball directly to a position of about 2 meters.

Suarez, who had passed the ball to Henderson before, also inserted into the penalty area after passing the ball.

After receiving the ball from Henderson, he went straight forward under acceleration and entered the penalty area.

Walker, who defended, made a sliding shovel directly, trying to block Suarez's shot, but Suarez made an emergency stop in the penalty area, smashed the ball, and directly avoided Walker's sliding shovel, and then he immediately A push shot hit the goal.

Because all the movements happened too fast, Suarez's body could not be fully stretched, so the goal kick was not fast, but the angle was extremely tricky, and it hit the lower left corner of the goal. Lori made a save, but But it was really impossible to touch the shot that hit the dead corner.

1 to 0, Liverpool took the lead away.