Football giants

Chapter 563

Yang Huan sat in the chairman's stand of St. Mary's Stadium, which was his exclusive seat.

He didn't know at all that in China, three women who were close to him were plotting to start a business. He just watched intently on the field, where a match between Southampton and Liverpool was going on.

Judging from the current Premier League standings, Southampton ranks second and Liverpool ranks sixth.

But judging from the situation, the Saints are going to challenge Manchester United for the top spot, while Liverpool are going to fight for the top four Champions League qualifications!

Therefore, in this game, neither side can afford to lose.

In this game, Southampton changed their tactics against Norwich in the previous round and played very aggressively.

From the very beginning of the game, the Saints pushed forward aggressively, defending high and pressing to keep the Reds firmly under control.

Liverpool seemed to be prepared for Southampton's starting tactics. After the opening, the three midfielders composed of Joe Allen, Lucas and Gerrard were all in deep positions, which looked more like defensive.

This season, at St. Mary's Stadium, if you want to play against Southampton, this is undoubtedly the old birthday star hanging himself, tired of working!
The series of presses and pressures after the opening of the Saints made Liverpool very embarrassed, especially the goalkeeper Reina made a low-level mistake and passed the ball directly to Gareth Bale, which almost caused a goal conceded.

This also made the Red Army panic.

In the 5th minute, Neymar took the ball and when he entered the penalty area from the left rib, he suddenly knocked back.

Toni Kroos plugged in behind, facing Neymar's return pass, he shot directly.

With a violent spin, the ball got into the upper right corner, and Reina was beyond his reach!
Toni Kroos' long-range shot ignited the frenzied atmosphere of the entire St. Mary's Stadium.

Countless fans rushed out of their seats crazily, shouting the name of Toni Kroos, cheering for the German midfielder!

Although Yang Huan was sitting in the stands, he still gave warm applause.

"You Southampton have so many ways to change the situation of the game!"

Sitting next to Yang Huan, Liverpool Ian Ayre, who was traveling with the team, shook his head and sighed.

When Rodgers wanted to rely on the defense and the three midfielders to block Southampton's midfield attack, Toni Cross suddenly stepped in and shot a long shot, which resulted in a goal!
How can people resist this?

Yang Huan laughed, Southampton's offense was no joke!
Just like in this game, with the starting trident, Ibrahimovic alone can contain Liverpool's two central defenders, Skrtel and Agger, and even the midfielder Lucas must always keep his attention and keep echoing with the double central defenders.

But even so, can Liverpool cut off the ball passed to Ibrahimovic?

The answer is, it's hard!

This is the greatest tactical value of the Swedish center in the frontcourt!
Neymar on the left and Gareth Bale on the right are both attackers who pose a great threat in the frontcourt.

Once they get the ball, they can't defend against the full-backs alone, and they must have the support of their midfield teammates.

So, when Neymar got the ball just now, Glenn Johnson and Gerrard teamed up with him, one defending the bottom and the other defending the inside.

Gareth Bale on the right also relied on his own clever movement to attract the attention of Jose Enrique and Joe Allen.

Vidal suddenly thrust forward and immediately attracted Lucas.

This led to the front of Liverpool's entire penalty area being completely exposed.

Therefore, as soon as Toni Kroos plugs in, Neymar passes the ball out, and the German can directly take a long shot!

After all, Southampton's strength, especially the personal strength of the midfielders, has completely blown Liverpool!

Glenn Johnson and Gerrard both flanked a Neymar and let the latter knock the ball back out. What is there to say?

In Yang Huan's view, the only player in the Liverpool team who can keep pace with Southampton's midfield is Suarez.

The Uruguayan has been in amazing form recently, scoring seven goals in four games, and is second only to Southampton's Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the scorer list, which shows how hot the state is.

As soon as Suarez was mentioned, the Uruguayan striker on the court seemed to come alive.

Because Southampton adopts a high defense and the defense line is pressed very high, Suarez has been patiently looking for opportunities.

Not long after the re-kick-off, an opportunity was seized. Gerrard took the ball from midfield, Suarez quickly started, and passed through Southampton's defense. Seeing that it was about to be single-handedly, the referee's whistle sounded.

Offside!

The Uruguayan turned his head and saw that Harvey Martinez and Varane started at the same time, and Southampton's entire defense line moved forward very tacitly, forming an offside trap.

"It's a pity!" Yang Huan shook his head and sighed.

It's not a pity for Suarez's offside, but a pity for the Uruguayan.

With Suarez's strength, in the current Liverpool, it is definitely buried.

To put it bluntly, now Liverpool's offense is completely supported by Suarez alone!

In Yang Huan's previous life, there was at least one Sturridge who could keep up with Suarez, but what about now?

Looking at Liverpool as a whole, Gerrard is getting old, Sterling is still young, who else can cooperate with Suarez?
Rodgers played very shrewdly in this game. The midfielder retracted, with the purpose of oppressing Southampton's first pass forward from the midfield, and then using two wingers to entangle Southampton's two full-backs.

As for Suarez, he was alone in the front and fell into a helpless situation, which is also impossible.

But in this way, the three midfielders retracted, and the two wingers also had their own defensive tasks. Who will defend Southampton's double midfielder Modric and Toni Kroos?

Modric is relatively better, and the hardworking Gerrard can still run back and forth, but Joe Allen doesn't care about Toni Kroos' side at all, so the Germans have gained a lot of room for movement, appearing very active, frequently posing threats forward.

The activeness of Toni Kroos and Modric's organization and scheduling of the ball in the midfield allowed Southampton to control the ball steadily. After the opening to the present, the ball possession rate is as high as 70.00%.

"Oh my God!" Yang Huan wondered if he had read it wrong.

Is this still a game between Southampton and Liverpool?

It is worth mentioning that the possession rate of the Saints is very different from that of Barcelona.

Barcelona's ball possession rate mainly relies on passing, relying on back and forth in the midfield.

The Saints' possession rate relies on pressing and pressing.

Southampton dared to take the risk to try to pass the threatening ball, insisted on walking on two sides, and was not afraid of losing the ball, because once the ball was lost, it immediately went into a counterattack, regained the ball in the shortest time, and then tried to attack again, made mistakes, and then grabbed again.

Except for the Norwich game, Southampton seldom saw extra midfielders, let alone the possession rate.

This is why Southampton's style of play is more aggressive and entertaining than Barcelona's, and it is also more popular with fans.

Firmly controlling the situation on the field, Southampton almost pressed Liverpool for a fat beating.

But it must also be said that although Liverpool's offense is not very good, their defense is quite well organized.

The central defender combination of Skrtel and Agger, as well as Lucas in the midfielder position, made Liverpool's defense very solid.

Especially after being scored by Southampton at the beginning of the game, Liverpool adjusted their defense and became more conservative in their mentality. Although Southampton got a lot of opportunities, they failed to convert them into goals.

Until the No. 307th minute of the game, Neymar was fouled with the ball in the frontcourt, Toni Kroos took a free kick, Ibrahimovic headed the ferry, and Gareth Bale scored a point, [-]-[-]!
This goal, coupled with the situation on the field, almost sentenced Liverpool to death!
But Yang Huan was not very happy in his heart.

Manchester United's game was a day earlier than Southampton. With Rooney's goal, the Red Devils beat Reading [-]-[-].

In this way, the Saints won Liverpool, at best they were just chasing Manchester United.

Eight rounds and eight points, this suspense still has to endure!

"It's still not as good as people's skills!" Ian Al shook his head and sighed unwillingly.

Yang Huan chuckled, "Ian, don't be convinced. Liverpool's defense is solid now, but if you want to compete for the top four in the league, you still have to work hard on offense!"

"What do you mean?" Ian Al asked with concern.

All of the Premier League, oh no, all of Europe, who doesn't know that Master Huan is the boss who knows the ball best?

"The biggest problem for you Liverpool now is the advancement of the ball!"

"The advancement of the ball?" Ian Ayre thought about it.

"It's useless to rely on Suarez alone in the front, but if Suarez is withdrawn to connect the midfield and frontcourt, then who can stand on the front line? But if Suarez is on the front line, who should complete the advancement of the ball from the midfield to the frontcourt?"

Ian Ayrton thought it made sense.

Southampton's offense is excellent, isn't it because there are so many ways to advance the ball?
Toni Kroos' long pass is a must, and both Harvey Martinez and Varane have a strong long pass ability.

In addition, there are top high center forwards like Taj Brahimovic and Warcraft Drogba standing in front of them, which is enough to give full play to the team's advantage of long passes in the backcourt.

When the ball reaches the midfield, Neymar, Gareth Bale and Modric all have excellent personal abilities and can drive the ball to the frontcourt.

But looking at the Liverpool team, besides Suarez, who else can drive the ball forward?

In Yang Huan's previous life, Liverpool's best season happened to be when Suarez and Sturridge formed a double striker and played the best season. In addition, there was no interference from European competitions and cup competitions. The team focused on the league, so the combat effectiveness it displayed was quite amazing.

Not for nothing!

To put it simply, these two players can decide to advance and retreat according to the surrounding situation to solve the problem of advancing the ball. Coupled with the support of Henderson, Coutinho, Sterling and others, Liverpool's offensive power will be revealed.

When Suarez transferred, the problem was exposed again!
"There are not many options in front of you now, either to introduce another powerful striker to partner with Suarez, which can improve Liverpool's overall strength, but the funds to put into operation are also expensive."

Yang Huan deliberately paused, noticing that Ian Ayer looked distressed, and he knew it.

Liverpool's operation in the transfer market has never been the type of extravagance.

The reason why Carroll was introduced heavily was because Torres was sold, and the team urgently needed to fill the vacancy left by Torres.

But as a result, Carroll became a big parallel importer, and more than 3000 million pounds were wasted. The football director Comolli, who was in charge of operating the transfer, was fired because of this.

Therefore, Yang Huan is very sure that if Liverpool invest more than 2000 million pounds to introduce a striker who can attack the city in the Premier League, even Ian Erken, the boss behind Liverpool will definitely not agree.

Then, there is only the second option left!
"Or simply sell Suarez, cash out and exchange for two frontcourt attackers to solve the team's current problems!"

(End of this chapter)