Football’s First Defender

After defeating Burnley, Liverpool maintained a recent winning streak, and finally waited until Chelsea lost the chain in the league.

Since Chelsea interrupted their winning streak in this round, the league leader's position has returned to Liverpool's hands, and Liverpool regained the initiative in the championship.

However, Liverpool's subsequent schedule will be full of challenges, not only encountering strong opponents in the league, but in the latest Champions League draw, Liverpool, which is aiming to hit the Champions League championship, has drawn Bayern Munich, one of the three cosmic teams.

Judging from the intuitive strength of many European clubs today, Bayern, Real Madrid, and Barcelona are definitely the only ones in Europe.

Not only the total value of the team's players, the depth of the bench, but also the stability of the team's lineup have made these three teams at the top of Europe in recent years.

Although Liverpool has completed its rise in recent seasons, in terms of strength, Liverpool's overall strength is still at a disadvantage after comparing with the drawn Bayern.

After the UEFA Champions League drew an absolutely poor draw, Liverpool can only put it aside for the time being. After all, the quarter-finals of the Champions League will have to wait until April, and they have more important leagues that require them to face it head-on. .

Throughout the second half of March, Liverpool had to face the resistance of two strong teams one after another in the domestic league.

First meet Manchester United to play a real double red meeting, and then meet Arsenal to play a confrontational battle.

One host and one guest, there are definitely two vicious battles waiting for Liverpool.

The competition of the Double Red Club has never been an easy game.

For Manchester United, after the slump at the beginning of the season, now they meet Liverpool again, and the two teams are already in a different situation.

In recent games, Liverpool has made a leap in performance with continuous victories.

However, Manchester United's league results are still good and bad, and the team's scoring efficiency is not stable.

In the league standings, Manchester United has dropped to fifth place, a full 4 points behind Arsenal, who are fourth in the Champions League qualification.

Of course, in the Double Red Club matches, they never cared about the real strength of the two teams.

As the most watched matchup between the two giants in the Premier League, a few years ago, including the previous 20 years, Liverpool, as a veteran giant, was rubbed on the ground by the upstart Manchester United.

But now, Feng Shui has taken turns, and the results of Liverpool and Manchester United have turned upside down. Liverpool will naturally seize every opportunity to beat Manchester United, and once again surpass Manchester United in terms of historical results.

However, when the double red meeting officially started, everyone put aside the current gap in league results and fixed the game on the spot.

The Anfield Stadium was once again full of seats. For Liverpool fans, they had waited too long to see their old opponents who were not strong enough and were "bullyed" by the home team.

For Manchester United, "Chef Fan" has not been crazy about experimenting with new dishes.

Some of Manchester United's "old clappers" over the past few seasons are still the most trusted players of Van Gaal.

Van Gaal is now under considerable performance pressure. If it is said that his predecessor Moyes did not achieve good results in the league and lacked signings as an excuse, then Van Gaal held close to 200 million pounds when he took office. If there is a lot of strong support, but it is outrageous if you can't even qualify for the Champions League after the end of the new season, it will be a huge blow to the trust of fans and team executives in him.

But now the results are worse, and there are some bad luck for Van Gaal.

Nowadays, some "old clappers" are reused, not only because these veterans who have enough experience in the Premier League are stable, but also because the team's new aid is severely injured.

The full-backs that were introduced in the summer, Rojo and Luke Shaw, were introduced at a high price by Manchester United to supplement the fresh blood of the full-backs. At the beginning, they were all used as Manchester United's main full-backs for the next five years, but because of Injuries prevented him from playing for a long time.

And Manchester United's summer transfer bid king, last season's Champions League MVP, "Angel" Di Maria, has been unable to adapt to the physical confrontation and game rhythm of the Premier League, and cannot make too much contribution to the team .

An away game against Liverpool.

Manchester United's 4141 lineup is a lineup tactic commonly used by Van Gaal recently.

It's just that in terms of player allocation, Van Gaal also had to use some players to play some positions in order to deal with today's "player crisis".

The striker of this game, the veteran Rooney, has become Manchester United's lone striker again. Behind him, apart from Mata's ability to deliver the ball, he still needs two wings to attack, relying on the offense from the wings. The offense that finishes the game.

As for Liverpool, compared with the previous match against Manchester United, the team has stronger strength, and the players have a more tacit cooperation.

Now there is still a home court advantage, which makes Liverpool's combat power a huge bonus.

Of course, with Manchester United, Fellaini and Carrick's double midfielder lineup, Liverpool's offense will definitely be under a lot of pressure.

The rhythm of the game after the start of the game is not much different from the pre-match media predictions.

Liverpool occupies an absolute dominant position, sitting on the advantage of the home court, and undoubtedly holds the initiative on the offensive end. The ball possession rate, offensive opportunities, and the number of shots are all in an absolute leading position.

It's just that Manchester United have done a good job defensively.

The double defensive midfielders block the midfield, and the two wing players occupy a good defensive position at the expense of certain offenses to limit Liverpool's wing breakthroughs.

This also made Liverpool gain momentum and not score throughout the first half. In the game, they had an offensive advantage, but they could not be converted into goals.

However, these veterans and survivors of the Ferguson era do not have much advantage in age compared to Liverpool.

Taking the initiative to attack, Liverpool, which has the initiative to attack, has caused Manchester United players to suffer from both physical and mental exhaustion.

Manchester United players are much more tired than Liverpool players. Under such circumstances, Liverpool only needs to launch an offensive step by step to exhaust some Manchester United players.

For example, Rooney who is already "old and frail", such as Professor Yang who is responsible for defending on the wing and carrying a long-term contract, and Mata who is not good at defending...

Liverpool's offense today is chasing after some obvious defensive weaknesses on the Manchester United field.

Even in a short period of time, with Manchester United's overall defense and the excellent supplementary defense of other players, targeting these weaknesses can only create opportunities, but cannot really seal the victory and create points.

But for Manchester United's overall defensive consumption, it is to the greatest extent, making many of Manchester United's defensive players have to pay physical energy and defensive attention for these loopholes to supplement the defense.

Liverpool did not score a goal in the first half. Manchester United defended the first 45 minutes after paying the price of physical strength, concentration, and 4 yellow cards.

Liverpool had no shots and could not form a goal.

Of course, as a Manchester United team that is also a top giant, even if they are severely suppressed by the home team and old rival Liverpool in the away game, Manchester United will not directly raise their hands and hand in their guns. They must still find a way to launch some counterattacks.

It's just that Manchester United's lone striker Rooney is still an assaulter such as Mata and others behind him. When facing Liverpool's final defense formed by Yang Feng and Skrtel, he does not have any advantage.

After all, Manchester United sacrificed the number of offensive players in the team for a relatively solid defense in the first half, and even the participation of counterattack players in the defensive counterattack was not high.

In the case of limited offensive players, it can always be seen that Manchester United finally completed the defense, but when they wanted to launch a counterattack, they stopped abruptly.

Skrtel went up and Yang Feng was in charge of man-marking at the end of the line of defense and supplementing the defense. Liverpool's long-term cooperation with central defenders had a clear division of labor and did not give Manchester United any chance to counterattack.

For Rooney, this may be his last season at Manchester United.

The decline in physical condition is an indisputable fact. Today, I can no longer run as fast as I did a few years ago.

Maybe his shooting skills are still there, but after all, he is a veteran who has passed his peak period. He doesn't have enough physical fitness and speed to support him. On the court, sometimes he sees the gaps in the court, but due to his own reasons, he can't run to the position. , being destroyed by the defensive player.

When facing other teams, Rooney already felt the feeling of strenuousness, but now again, facing Yang Feng in the game, this feeling of strenuousness has turned into a sense of powerlessness.

Yang Feng's defense was really impeccable.

Liverpool's backcourt is empty as far as the eye can see, and Yang Feng's position is like the center point of many areas on the field.

No matter which area Manchester United counters the pass of a teammate and passes it to, Yang Feng will always rush to the landing area to complete the destruction at the first time during the game.

Even though sometimes, Rooney relies on his own experience, without looking, and uses the team's tactical running position, or the tacit understanding among players, to know the approximate location of Carrick's pass and run ahead of time, but in the end, Yang Feng will always Stand in front of Rooney, one step ahead of Rooney, complete the defensive block, or directly clear the siege.

"After all, you are still old. When facing Yang, are you already at such a comprehensive disadvantage?"

Even Rooney doesn't want to admit it, but this is the reality. Every veteran, no matter how brilliant he was, is destined to be eliminated by the torrent of the times as his physical function declines.

Rooney's perception of Liverpool's defensive end applies to these few players who participated in the counterattack against Liverpool.

Liverpool's defense has become increasingly impenetrable.

Yang Feng's personal protection has reached the extreme in this double red meeting.

Accurate judgment and defensive performance without any mistakes make the most uncomfortable defensive position choice for offensive players.

In the first half, Yang Feng counterattacked several Manchester United players in turn, and before he could make a threat, he directly killed it in the bud.

Even if the Manchester United players want to avoid Yang Feng, but when Liverpool is actively pressing the frontcourt and Manchester United plays the ball in the backcourt, they can only choose a high ball and a long pass, the entire Liverpool backcourt is under Yang Feng's control.

In the first half, it ended 0-0 like this. While Liverpool had an offensive advantage, Manchester United counterattacked several times without posing any threat.

When the game entered the second half, it really entered a fierce competition.

Manchester United players, in the case of continuous defensive consumption and decreased physical fitness, the number of counterattacks they can play is naturally less. In addition, Yang Feng and Skrtel's excellent backcourt performance today makes it possible for Liverpool. Deploy more power on the offensive end.

For Liverpool, a draw against Manchester United at Anfield will definitely not satisfy the fans.

The best gift for a sworn enemy is, of course, to kick them in the ass and send them a loss.

Liverpool continues to speed up their offensive rhythm, using their own speed, their own technical ability, as well as younger and more energetic running and impact, to completely drag down the "old" Manchester United.

Sterling is Liverpool's best explosive player.

This season is the year when Sterling broke out completely. Last season, he was just the most inconspicuous little brother on Liverpool's front line. This season, he used his explosive performance to cover up the light of everyone else.

Sterling can give full play to his own characteristics in positional warfare and counterattack warfare.

Super fast personal speed, combined with the technology at the foot, this is the reason why Sterling has grown so fast.

The increasingly strong ability to break through personal bursts on the wing is an absolute weapon for Liverpool to deal with Manchester United's defense.

Once, twice, three times, but United couldn't defend countless times.

Sterling is so young and has sufficient physical fitness to keep trying.

As for the Manchester United players, for this side of defense, they can't be in place every time, especially when the players' physical fitness and concentration decline as the game progresses.

After once again using speed to break through Smalling's defense, Smalling was afraid to make a big defensive move to stop Sterling because he was backed with a yellow card when defending Sterling in the first half. .

This also allowed Sterling to ride a small motorcycle directly into Manchester United's penalty area, further creating chaos in Manchester United's defense.

And Phil Jones, who came to make up defense, is a typical British defender. He is tall and big, but lacks enough flexibility to be used as a meat shield. No fun.

After getting rid of Smalling's defense, facing Phil Jones, Sterling has enough offensive space to fully demonstrate his flexibility. After a smash, the other defenders When the position was not filled, Sterling directly kicked the goal and attacked by himself.

Passing two people in a row, although Sterling's forward speed was further reduced, it was enough for Sterling to push the ball to a position very close to the goal.

Sterling faced De Gea head-on, even though the angle was not too big, he still kicked to complete the goal.

Sterling knows that his control over the angle of the goal needs to be strengthened, but Sterling still understands the principle of dropping ten times with one force.

A volley with one foot, trying to control the ball within the range of the goal frame.

Indeed, in the case of a small angle, De Gea threw the football, but the added force of the football could not be greatly changed by De Gea.

After the ball was blocked by De Gea's outstretched right arm, it still "stubbornly" flew towards the goal and hit the net.

In the 64th minute of the game, Sterling used his personal ability to forcefully break the deadlock and take the lead for Liverpool.

The subsequent game was more like a crushing offensive and defensive teaching from Liverpool to Manchester United.

With Liverpool occupying various advantages, this double-red meeting has gradually evolved into a strong vs. weak teaching.

The Jie team, who came off the bench, added a handful of salt to Manchester United's wounds.

In the familiar field of Anfield, which area and what kind of shooting power can be used to hit the most threatening long-range shot, the Jie team has already formed muscle memory.

Coming off the bench, the energetic Jie team faced Manchester United's loose defense due to declining physical fitness. A heavy bombardment from 25 meters away expanded the score for Liverpool.

Team Jay, the kid from Liverpool, once again, when facing arch-enemy Manchester United, contributed a goal for the team, and the Anfield stadium was completely immersed in jubilation...