Reborn Liverpool

Chapter 394

Chapter 394

On December 12, in the quarter-finals of the English League Cup, Zhang Mai brought a group of Red Army rotation substitutes to play at home against Bournemouth, which they defeated two weeks ago.

After 90 minutes of fierce fighting, Zhang Mai scored twice, leading the team to beat Bournemouth 2-1 and break into the semi-finals of the League Cup.

Liverpool's next round of semi-finals will have to wait until January 1 next year. The opponent is the Premier League giants Tottenham. Zhang Mai, who will participate in the Asian Cup, can only pray for his teammates to worry about it.

……

Two days later, Liverpool ushered in the 18th round of the Premier League in full swing, and is about to challenge the rebellious Wolves away.

Nearly half of the 18-19 Premier League has passed. As a newly promoted team last season, it is not easy for the Wolves to enter the top ten in the league.

Looking at the rise of the Wolves in recent years, the investment of Chinese capital and the operation of Mendes have made this originally humble team gradually embark on the road to the rich!

The Wolves are a team with a relatively balanced offense and defense. There are many monsters in the team and distinctive technical characteristics. The characteristics of the team's fast counterattack and simple and distinctive style of play can be seen from the players.

There are many fast players in the Wolves team. Wingers Costa, Cavaleiro, and Traore are all famous fast horses on the wing. The rapid advancement in the counterattack and the personal ability to solve problems are all contributed by the three. without.

Especially winger Traore, a player who came out of Barcelona's youth training, if there is one comment on him, it is fast except fast.

Traore's extraordinary skill is to eat you raw with a few simple moves, simple and practical without fancy.

And Mexican striker Jimenez, the forward who was bought from Benfica's black shop, also became the team's top scorer.

The Wolves midfielder also has two ruthless men, that is Moutinho dug from Monaco and Ruben Neves from Porto.

These two Portuguese midfielders are the absolute core of the Wolves lineup. At the beginning, Ruben Neves was bought for 1700 million euros. Now many giants are eyeing them, but the price has already soared to 1 million euros. about.

The backcourt of the Wolves is also full of talents. The old captain Bass on loan and the future potential star Iofa are quite strong. The Spanish international center back Jony and Liverpool's Coady formed the most stable center back combination.

The Wolves were relegated from the bottom of the Premier League in the 2011-2012 season, and unfortunately relegated from the English Championship to the League One in the second year. It can be said that the fate is tragic.

Just when all fans thought that this team would face the sinking of the 21st century again, the turning point was approaching. In the 2013-2014 season, the Wolves rushed to the British Championship again, which was not easy.

The turning point came in 2016, the first year after the Wolves were tepid in the English Championship, the Huaguo consortium Fosun International acquired 4500% of the equity of the English Championship Wolves at a price of 100 million pounds.

The intervention of Chinese capital and the addition of Mendes made the Wolves start their own road to revival. The two major wingers in the team, Costa and Cavaleiro, joined at this time.

And it is yet to come that Mendes truly embodies the value of Europe's number one agent. On July 2017, 7, the English Football Champions League Wolves officially announced the joining of Neves.

The former Porto captain was favored by many Premier League giants, but in the end he chose the English Championship as the next stop of his career.

It has to be said that Neves chose the Wolves of the British Championship for this unexpected large sum, and Mendes's operation behind it is indispensable.

Why Mendes is involved with the Wolves is necessarily related to their coach Nuno.

As a Portuguese, Nuno and the Portuguese players in the Wolves lineup are almost created by Mendes.

And the large investment of Chinese capital has also seen returns. Wolves' high score of 99 points and oppressive game scenes in the British Championship became the overlord of the British Championship that season.

The summer after being promoted to the Premier League was even crazier. They signed 11 players and invested hundreds of millions of pounds to introduce many powerful players. It has to be said that Wolves' future is not as simple as staying in the Premier League.

These Wolves from Wolverhampton conquered many teams in the Premier League in half a season.

Looking at the history of the Wolves' Premier League battles this season, it is not difficult to find that the Wolves' record this season is very proud, drawing with Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, and defeating Chelsea and Tottenham.

If they can be more consistent when playing against teams of similar level, maybe Wolves have the possibility of becoming a real giant in the rankings.

Such a strong home team naturally caused Klopp a lot of headaches, and he sent the strongest attacking lineup out of caution.

At 12:21 on December 20st, Liverpool challenged Wolves at the Molineux Stadium. The starting lists of both sides are as follows:

Wolves (3-4-1-2):

1 - Patricio;

5-Bennett, 16-Cody, 15-Boli;

2-Doherty, 27-Seth, 8-Neves, 19-Jonnie;

28 - Moutinho;

37-Traore, 9-Jimenez.

Liverpool (4-3-3):

1 - Pickford;

7-Milner, 3-Maguire, 4-Van Dijk, 26-Robertson;

14-Henderson, 10-Zhang Mai, 8-Keita;

11-Salah, 9-Firmino, 10-Mane.

Wolves coach Nuno played all the aces in his hands; Liverpool's starting goalkeeper Alisson took a break, Milner and Henderson played in rotation, and Arnold, who was recovering from injury, watched the match with the visiting Liverpool fans in the stands.

The atmosphere at the Molyneux Stadium was particularly lively, and the media all over the UK turned their attention to this game to see if the rising Wolves could stop Liverpool's winning streak.

Nuno and Klopp shook hands cordially before the game, and Dalglish and Sky Sports host Kelly Cates came to the scene to host the live broadcast of the game together.

The scene was so scary, but the two teams still insisted on their own style of play.

Liverpool pressed aggressively at the start, but Wolves' counterattack was threatening.

Only 4 minutes into the game, Keita made a pass error in the backcourt, Moutinho intercepted in the frontcourt, and Traore broke into the penalty area and shot a low shot from the right side of the penalty area.

In the 10th minute, Jimenez passed the ball, and Traore forced a shot from the right side of the penalty area and missed again.

In the 13th minute, Doherty passed the ball, and Seth shot a low shot from 12 yards from the right rib of the penalty area and was saved by Alisson.

The Wolves' three tricks in the first 15 minutes ended, and it was Liverpool's turn to attack as a guest.

As soon as the Red Army attacked, they reaped gains, and immediately stunned the menacing Wolves...

In the 18th minute, Zhang Mai cooperated with Mane to kick the wall and then broke into the penalty area and made a low pass on the right side of the penalty area. The unguarded Salah catapulted into the net with the outside of his left foot at 10 yards.

1-0, Liverpool scored a goal in the first offensive of the game. This is also Salah's 14th goal this season, including 11 goals in the league.

Then Henderson passed the ball, and Milner, who was acting as a right back in this field, made a low shot from 20 yards and was confiscated.

After the Wolves reacted, they immediately launched a counterattack and contracted all the offensives for the rest of the first half.

In the 24th minute, Traore made a pass from the left to the far point, and Doherty's header from a small angle was confiscated.

Two minutes later, Bennett passed the ball, and Neves shot high again from the outside.

In the 38th minute, Traore's pass was blocked and then deflected. The follow-up Jonny's low shot from the edge of the penalty area was confiscated by Pickford.

In stoppage time, Keita made a backcourt pass to Robertson and made a mistake. Dougherty intercepted the ball and broke into the penalty area with a low shot from the right corner and was confiscated.

In the second half, the two teams changed places to fight again, and Zhang Mai was at ease as a midfielder to intercept opponents and organize offenses, allowing Keita to attack with all his strength.

In the 49th minute, Milner took a corner kick to the outside, and Salah volleyed slightly higher from the edge of the penalty area.

Then Keita's 2 outside shots were blocked, and Milner's shot in front of the restricted area also missed the goal.

In the 58th minute, Keita fell to the ground and was injured by excessive force, and was replaced by Lallana.

Immediately afterwards, Liverpool had another wave of counterattacks. Salah and Mane counterattacked and passed the ball. Lallana's shot from the left side of the penalty area was saved.

Liverpool expanded the score in the 68th minute, Wolves cleared the corner kick, Salah made a diagonal pass, Zhang Mai volleyed into the net from the edge of the small penalty area, 2-0.

The Wolves, who were two goals behind, were even more crazy, and almost all of them pressed forward to strengthen their offense.

In the 74th minute, Seth's stab shot from 10 yards in the melee in the penalty area was confiscated by Pickford.

Two minutes later, Klopp, who was frightened by the Wolves, hurriedly replaced to strengthen the defense, and Wijnaldum replaced Firmino.

Afterwards, the two sides fought more in the midfield, and rarely had the opportunity to attack the opponent's penalty area.

In the 86th minute, Mane made a direct pass. Salah broke into the small penalty area and shot from a small angle on the right side, which was saved by Patricio. Mane missed the header in the corner kick melee, and then he was replaced by Klein.

In the 89th minute, Robertson made a clearance error. He helped his opponent stop the ball with his heel. Gibbs White shot from the right side of the penalty area and hit the side net.

At the end of the game, Zhang Mai and Salah's one pass and one shot helped Liverpool secure the Christmas championship 2-0 and set a new record of 18 consecutive victories in the Premier League.

You know, the leading teams before Christmas in the past four seasons have all won the Premier League championship, and Liverpool has the same limelight this Christmas.

……

The atmosphere of Christmas has also stimulated the enthusiasm of the Premier League players, and the subsequent games of the day were also particularly exciting:

Arsenal defeated Burnley 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium, Aubameyang scored twice, Barnes pulled one back, and Iwobi sealed the victory.Arsenal ended their losing streak for the year.

In another game at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea lost 0-1 at home to Leicester City. Hazard hit the crossbar, Vardy broke the deadlock, and Alonso hit the post in stoppage time.

Chelsea suffered their fourth defeat of the season, but they still temporarily beat Arsenal in the top four of the standings with a goal difference advantage.

The most shocking thing that made Liverpool happy was that Manchester City lost at the Etihad Stadium. Manchester City lost to Crystal Palace 2-3 at home, and the gap with the Red Army widened to 11 points.

"Change" has always been Guardiola's biggest label. His tactics, formations, and employment are so varied that opponents can't figure it out, and Guardiola has received a lot of praise for this.

Facing the Crystal Palace today, Guardiola has another amazing hand, but this time he messed up.

At this moment when they saw the starting list, people looked at Guardiola with admiration again-he even let Stones kick the midfielder.

A central defender, the position was changed to play the midfielder by the premise, which has to make people admire Guardiola's courage.

You know, Guashuai used Stones in this way in a very small number of warm-up matches or cup games before, and now he dares to use him directly in the key Premier League games. small risk.

The final answer did give Guardiola a big blow. His experiment can be described as a failure.

Stones, who plays the defensive role in the 433 system, has made no achievements on the offensive end in this game, and even lost his good defensive ability.

After the whole game, Stones passed 109 times, but most of them were crosses and back passes, lacking penetrating threatening passes.

On the defensive end, the first two goals scored by Crystal Palace passed through the Stones defense area, and his new position was basically useless.

"Daily Mail" gave Stones a score of 5 points, which is the lowest score in Manchester City.

In the media's view, Stones' poor performance this time is one of the main factors for Manchester City's loss.

After this loss, the difference between Manchester City and Liverpool widened to 11 points. This time Guardiola paid a heavy price for his willfulness, and this price may even be the ultimate Premier League champion.

After the game, Guardiola was questioned by reporters because of Stones' position, and Guardiola's answer was:

"Manchester City won the game, so my transformation is a genius transformation. Now you lose, you will naturally say that I am not good and that is not good. I am not sure if I let De Bruyne play at the beginning, what will happen in the end? As a result. Fernandinho got injured and Stones gave me another option. I admire players who can play in positions they don't know."

It seems that Guardiola does not feel that he is at fault.Was Guardiola wrong?

From the perspective of practice, Guardiola is not wrong!He has reason to believe that he can also succeed with Stones.

Looking back at history, Guashuai has had many god-level transformations. For example, in Barcelona, ​​he let Mascherano play as a midfielder. For example, in Bayern, he let Lahm, who is a defender, play as a midfielder. It can be called very successful.

But in terms of timing, Guardiola did something wrong this time, leaving himself and Manchester City in the abyss of suffering for the chasers.

This season's Premier League is not last season's Premier League. The accepted fact is that this season's Premier League head competition has become more intense.

Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham have all improved, and Liverpool is getting closer to perfection. The direct consequence of this is that although Manchester City's record is still excellent, they can only be placed behind the Red Army!

reason?Naturally, the competition in the Premier League has become even fiercer.For Manchester City, who are aiming to compete for the championship, they must take every Premier League game seriously, so that they can regain the possibility of overtaking Liverpool.But Guashuai has carried out a brain-opening transformation in the Premier League, which is obviously a bit out of date.

Furthermore, it is the Christmas schedule right now, and Manchester City is in a critical period of catching up with Liverpool. At this time, what Manchester City needs most is stability, and it is safe to get three points.

Any risk should be eliminated, but Guardiola is trying to change. The choice of this timing is undoubtedly extremely unreasonable.

Of course, from another perspective, Guardiola had no choice but to let Stones play as a midfielder:

Fernandinho was injured, David Silva was injured, and Manchester City lost two of their standing midfielders at once. Guashuai chose to take the risk of transforming Stones.

But please don't forget that De Bruyne and Foden are still sitting on the Manchester City bench. Even Guardiola himself raised a possibility-if De Bruyne was on the bench from the beginning, I don't know What will be the result.

Even if De Bruyne has just recovered from injury and is not suitable for starting, what about Foden?In the Champions League against Hoffenheim, Foden formed a midfield with Gundogan and the B seat. Manchester City won 2-1 in that game.

There were originally two safer options, but Guardiola insisted on letting Stones play as a midfielder. It can only be said that Gua Shuai still underestimated the enemy.

In the era when Gua Shuai coached La Liga and Bundesliga, his teams often far surpassed their opponents in terms of hard power, which gave Gua Shuai a lot of opportunities to train.

But this season's Premier League is different. The gap between the strength of other teams and the first group is not as terrible as that of the Bundesliga and La Liga, and there is a horrible Christmas schedule here. At this time, any giant has the possibility of overturning.

Safety is the best choice at this time; waves, there is a price to pay.

Perhaps, Stones is really likely to become an ace midfielder, and perhaps this transformation will be another magical stroke of Gua Shuai.

But during the Christmas schedule, and it is still chasing Liverpool, Gua Shuai really shouldn't take such a risk.

After sitting on an 11-point advantage, Liverpool, which is becoming more and more perfect, will not give Manchester City a chance to catch up besides laughing at Gua Shuai's stupidity and boldness?

(End of this chapter)