The Ball at Your Feet

After knowing the opponents in the Champions League, Liverpool's energy has been pulled to the arena. Just one day after the match against Newcastle, Liverpool is about to usher in the FA Cup quarter-finals against Birmingham.

It’s too nervous to play one game after another...

However, in this game, Liverpool still dominates.

In the FA Cup, Liverpool has no rivals that look too much. After Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal were eliminated one after another, Liverpool is already the most powerful team in the FA Cup. Unlike the disputes in the Champions League and the seesaw of the league, those two trophies are heavier and require more effort from Liverpool. In the FA Cup, if nothing goes wrong, Liverpool will definitely be the champion of this game.

This is the most likely winner among all Liverpool's competitions.

But although Liverpool have the advantage, it is still more difficult to win the game. After all, the team is very tired now. In the game the day before yesterday, they had just finished the game with Newcastle, and they hurried back from the away game and went back to the game. This fatigue is getting more and more terrifying.

Fortunately, Liverpool’s frontcourt trio thought of some better ways to play: they fixed Figo in the middle, while Gerrard and Zhao Yaning ran on the wings, keeping Figo’s energy weak. The disadvantages are minimized. Although in this way, it is tantamount to sacrificing Gerrard's scoring opportunities. However, at this time, Gerrard had to worry about his body. If he still bombarded the door regardless of fatigue in this fatigue combat mode, I was afraid that the possibility of his injury would be much higher.

The positions of Figo and Gerrard have changed, and Zhao Yaning will naturally complete the offensive task of the frontcourt. After that match in Manchester City, Zhao Yaning has recovered a lot. However, his physical fatigue does not exist, and there is no psychological problem, so he can naturally continue to play high-level games.

"In this game, Liverpool almost relied on Zhao Yaning to ravage Birmingham's defense in the frontcourt."

After Gerrard and Figo's stamina weakened, they could no longer do a good job in the frontcourt. Although their technique and body ensure that they can still control the ball well in the frontcourt, they can't do the job of actually tearing the back line of defense. In this way, when Zhao Yaning needs to show his effect on Liverpool's attack line, there will be more.

However, in this game in Birmingham, he was the only defensive point that needed to be targeted. Defending Zhao Yaning was also a lot harder. And Birmingham's intentions were very clear from the beginning: what they want is to rely on defensive counterattacks to kick the ball. They attach great importance to the back line, which also made Zhao Yaning's breakthrough and has not opened up the situation for a long time.

It was not until 30 minutes later in the first half that Liverpool launched its first successful attack. After plugging in on the left, Zhao Yaning did not wait for Figo to respond, and rushed to the edge of the penalty area by himself. In front of him, three Birmingham players stopped there while blocking his forward path.

While Zhao Yaning's left foot protected the ball with one step, he directly accelerated one step forward and squeezed into the seams between Cunningham and Melchiot. Cunningham stretched out his foot, but Zhao Yaning moved the ball very quickly, and the ball reached his right foot, and Melchiot blocked his forward path, but Zhao Yaning this time, he dialed the ball with his right foot again. The ball touched his leg, then forced a step and squeezed past him.

At this time, Clapham also made up his place. Zhao Yaning was squeezed by two people on both sides, and lost his balance. At this time, all he could do was to gently flick the ball and get out of Clapham to grab the top, while his body turned halfway around, blocking Clapham. Peng, leaning on his own body, separated the grabbing of several people.

"Zhao Yaning broke through the defense of three people! A beautiful breakthrough!"

Such a straight-forward hard breakthrough is extremely rare in the Premier League. Unlike La Liga and Serie A, the Premier League’s whistle is loose and the physical confrontation is strong. Such a hard come, there is a lot of physical confrontation, which is generally more beneficial to the defenders. Therefore, few people do this in the Premier League. Zidane, Riquelme and Rui Costa can play this way, but playing this way in the Premier League is not very effective.

If Zhao Yaning hadn't been forced hard, he wouldn't do it. Even with his physical condition and skills, he stumbled and was squeezed into one step.

But fortunately, at this time, he still passed the back line of defense. Milito, who responded, had already thrown off Taylor who was defending him. Zhao Yaning passed the ball, and Milito, who had a chance in front of the goal, kicked the ball into the goal!

"Liverpool leads 1-0! After 30 minutes of the first half, Milito finally scored! Let me see where this game is going!"

However, this game did not move in the direction that people wanted. Liverpool has not been able to score again. Although Zhao Yaning continued to increase pressure in the Birmingham backcourt, Birmingham did not give him any more opportunities. A mediocre 1-0 became the final score of the game.

Although Liverpool still relied on this goal to advance to the semi-finals, their fatigue is all in people's eyes. And in the next week, they will have to face a league and a Champions League game one after another, and the schedule is still very urgent.

The thickness of the lineup is still not enough... Zhao Yaning thinks about the year that he was lucky in Ligue 1. In the French Cup, except for Lyon, he has never encountered a strong team. They are all Ligue 2 teams, and there is only one opponent in the league. They still play the same. The bad Lyon, his luck that year is really hard to replicate.

"In the next game, we won't try to win anymore." Benitez also made a decision after the game. "In our game, the back line is still the main force, but we are the frontcourt players. Use the substitutes and try your best to guarantee a draw. Otherwise, the players will be too tired and can’t stand it. We have a Champions League game next week, and that game is much more important than this league. Before the big game, we must take turns. ."

Although everyone has some doubts about this issue, no one has objected to it. Indeed, at this time, everyone was tired and almost fell on the ground. The schedule is too dense and there are too many matches. Liverpool's lineup is still not strong enough to sustain this intensity.

Moreover, after all, it is now six points ahead of Chelsea. This difference in points makes Liverpool feel that the league should also be stable. In order to take into account the Champions League game, it should be appropriate to take a break. Even if two points are lost, there is still a four-point difference. There are no more rounds left in the game. Even four points should be enough. After all, there is not much difference between Liverpool and Chelsea in the goal difference book. Whether it is a four-point lead or a six-point lead, it is just a round of victory in advance.

Moreover, the current team really needs a break. After all, next week, the Champions League game will be in sight, and the importance of the Champions League game will surpass the league in any way. If you want to play well in the Champions League, you should sacrifice the league a little bit.

Third-line combat is a difficult thing after all. It is an extremely huge test for the team's physical strength and lineup.

just……

"How many consecutive games have we conceded the ball?" Someone in the crowd raised a question, "Our defense has not stabilized in the first half of the season. It is said that it was a tie, and it was really defensible. Huh?"

If Liverpool in the first half of the season said to take a break, naturally no one would say anything. At that time against Birmingham, they were able to score a big victory on the away game. They were able to break the team record of not conceding a goal in ten consecutive games. They had the best defense. Even if they took a break, they didn't have to worry too much. But up to now, it is not only the attacks of the frontcourt players, but also the backcourt players that are tired. Continuous fighting also made it impossible for the defense line to guarantee that every game is in the best condition. They also made mistakes and conceded the ball from time to time, and conceded multiple games in a row, which also made Liverpool want to defend one game now, but there is not enough. The confidence.

"Don't worry, there is me on the defense line." Carragher gritted his teeth and said.

At this time, the one who stood up was naturally the leader of the team. Since Hypia has retired to the second line this season, and Gerrard has also changed his position, then, at this time, the natural thing that needs to stand up is Carragher as the deputy captain.

In this game against Blackburn, Liverpool chose to let Zhao Yaning, Gerrard and Figo rest together. The frontcourt was handed over to Arteta and Garcia, while Morientes and Fowler were on the front line.

As soon as the game started, the players who rested off the court were somewhat fortunate to have done so. Blackburn played as fiercely as usual. In this game, letting the players rest is indeed a time for the players to rest and reorganize.

Moreover, after losing possession of the frontcourt, the players on Liverpool's defensive line were more serious than those in the previous games. Blackburn's several attacks failed to penetrate Liverpool's defense. Instead, Liverpool's defense also found several of its own problems and made up for them.

After all, ~www.ltnovel.com~ Sissoko has been in a sluggish state since his injury. Although he has repeatedly claimed that his eye disease is not a major issue, in fact, his mistakes have increased a lot. Liverpool can rarely guarantee not to lose the ball in the game now, and it is not unrelated to his mistakes.

However, relying on this period of recovery, coupled with the full-time defense of this game, his state has been recovered.

In a 0-0 game, Liverpool held the draw thanks to the play of the backcourt players.

Relying on the adjustment of this game, Liverpool got plenty of rest.

Chelsea won without any suspense in their own game. They pulled the score closer to only four points. After all, there was only one line left in their game, and the pressure was much less than that of Liverpool. I can count on them to make mistakes in the days to come, I'm afraid it is impossible.

But at this time, what Liverpool need to consider is not the game against Chelsea. For them, now, they need to meet Villarreal at their home court.

Riquelme, this untimely master, will also visit Anfield