champion godfather

Chapter 598

Nottingham Forest equalized the score at the last moment of the first half, which caused a huge mental shock to Liverpool. Fortunately, the first half ended, giving them a chance to adjust their emotions during the intermission, otherwise the game would have been like this If it continues, maybe Nottingham Forest will score another goal soon.

This is not a joke. Numerous examples have long proved that the most dangerous moment is after the first ball is lost, and it is easy for the opponent to win two consecutive cities in one go.The morale and confidence of the team that lost the ball will be severely hit, and it may almost collapse directly.

Of course, Liverpool will not just collapse like this. They have staged major reversals in key games countless times.Twain also knew this. Benitez would definitely summarize the first half of the game during the intermission, and reassure people and boost morale, so as not to suffer any blows in the second half.

And what Twain had to do was to waste all the hard work Benitez had put in during the halftime break.

He didn't tell his people to strengthen his offense in the second half, but continued to deal with the opponent like he did in the first half.

Maintaining the status quo.This is the wisdom of the ancestors.

"Whether we are ahead or behind, defense is very important. I believe that Liverpool will play with us slowly at the beginning of the second half. Benitez is a coach who pays attention to 'steadiness'. He will not let his team Taking risks easily. Everyone in Europe knows that besides defending, we are best at counterattacking sneak attacks. The last goal in the first half strengthened our image in their hearts. This is very good." Tang En nodded vigorously, "Bei Niters won't let his team start the second half with a bombardment because he is afraid of our sneak attack. So we are safe at the beginning of the second half. Just hold this tie and as the game goes on, even if No instructions from Benitez, Liverpool players will be impatient, they will not accept the draw, they will want to beat us in nine 10 minutes. That is our chance. Remember."

Tang En raised his right index finger, "We must wait patiently for the opponent to become impatient and start a large-scale attack before we counterattack. At other times, a solid defense is the most important thing."

"Then, it's the set piece. Increase the quality of the set piece. Even if you don't score a goal, you must pose a certain threat to the opponent and let them know how powerful our set piece is. In this way, they will not dare to foul easily in the dangerous area. , that's our chance."

The threat of set-pieces is not limited to direct scoring from set-pieces. If the opponent is afraid of giving you too many set-pieces and is timid in key positions and dare not foul, then it will also pose a great threat to the opponent's goal. .

※ ※ ※

Unlike Nottingham Forest, Benitez didn't arrange tactics for the team at the beginning. Just as Tang En thought, he was indeed trying to calm people's hearts and boost morale.Because conceding a goal at the end of the first half was really a big blow. After 45 minutes of hard work, it will take a lead to enter the locker room, and everyone is in a good mood.At the last moment, he was equalized by the opponent...

The Liverpool people can be considered to understand the mood of the opponent who was reversed by them repeatedly.

After reassuring people's hearts, Benitez began to arrange the team's tactics for the second half.

This time, contrary to what Tang En thought, the first thing he said to the players was: "The second half begins, let's attack."

Hearing this, the spirits of the Liverpool players were lifted.

"Twain will definitely think that we are afraid to increase our offensive strength and press the strong attack because we are worried about their sneak attack. Their defensive strategy will not change. Therefore, from the beginning of the second half, we will increase our attack. Intensity, press on the onslaught. Disrupt their defensive rhythm, take advantage of the chaos and then score. They must not have thought of it, for sure."

Benitez used two "certain", the tone is quite sure.The Tang En he knew was very conceited. Once he made a judgment and made a decision, he would go all the way to the end.If he thinks that he is a stable person and will not take risks easily, he will definitely think so firmly, and then use this as a basis to designate the forest team's coping strategy.

This is something that can be exploited.

The Forest team thought that Liverpool did not dare to attack with all their strength after the start of the second half, and they still had to reserve the power to counterattack, so what if we attacked with all our strength from the beginning of the second half?
"In addition to strengthening the long shots in the middle, the two sides actively press up to suppress the Forest team's side attack. The key to victory or defeat is in the first half of the second half. I don't care what method you use, you must score! "

※ ※ ※

The game restarted in the second half, and the two sides changed places to fight again.The fans who took a 15-minute break were revived and became active again.

Contrary to Twain's expectation, after the kick-off, Liverpool stopped the Forest team's attack, did not maneuver in the midfield at all, and directly hit the football to the front, if it wasn't for Dirk Dirk's poor shooting skills and too far away from the goal...

After 2 minutes, the Forest team's offense returned without success, and Liverpool made a comeback.Riise resolutely inserted from the second half, made a long-distance attack and made two-to-one cooperation with his teammates on the wing, and then made a cross. Dirk Dirk put the ball in the top, but under the interference of Pepe's body, he headed high.

Liverpool was attacking, which was in line with what Twain said at halftime.The players of the Forest team are defending step by step. They have seen this kind of situation a lot, so there is nothing to make a fuss about.

What's more, Dirk is good in any position, but he can't be a striker because his shooting ability is too poor.

Next, it's time for Liverpool's offense and the Forest team's solid defense.

During the period, the Forest team organized several counterattacks, but because the troops invested were not enough, they did not pose any substantial threat.

Liverpool are still attacking, constantly attacking...

From the fiery air of the Louis II Stadium, Tang En gradually sensed something was wrong.

Liverpool's offensive was too fierce, far beyond his expectations.In particular, Benitez allowed the two full-backs to frequently press for assists, as if he didn't care about Forest's counterattack at all.

This was not the case in the first half. No matter how Liverpool attacked in the first half, their two full-backs seldom assisted in the frontcourt.

It's better now, a few times he didn't go back at all after seeing Riise go up, and continued to wait for the opportunity in front.

This is completely a scene of "big soldiers pressing the border"!

Benitez is not afraid of the emptiness behind him being attacked by the Forest team?
He turned his head and looked over. The Spaniard was sitting on the coach's bench surrounded by his assistants, but he still couldn't see anything.

He felt that something was not right, but why it was wrong, how it would affect him, and what effect it would have on Liverpool, he couldn't tell for a while.He still needs time to observe and analyze.

Tang En left his seat, walked to the sidelines, put his arms around his chest, and frowned to observe the situation on the court.

※ ※ ※

Gerrard is on the ball, facing George Wood, his England team-mate.

The failure of the World Cup has become a thing of the past, Gerrard's position in the national team has not been shaken, and McLaren trusts him very much.Beckham in the Forest team was not so lucky. He was selected for England at the last moment of last season and was injured in two games. He lost again.

And George Wood was also recruited into the national team every time, but he never got a chance to start.In the World Cup, George did not get a minute of game time.After Eriksson left, McLaren came to power, and George Wood still could not gain the trust of the head coach.Although he is an unshakable main force in Nottingham Forest, he is the best rookie in England, the best local player in the English Premier League last season, one of the captains of the European championship team, and was selected as the best 1-man team in the European Champions Cup.In the England national team, he still hasn't got a chance to prove himself.Eriksson didn't give it to him, and neither did McLaren.

Regarding the latter, some people said that Wood was implicated because of the personal grievances between McLaren and Tony Twain.What is the truth?no one knows.

Since he is a teammate of the national team, Gerrard naturally knows how good Wood is. When training for the national team, his defense made it impossible for many people to surpass.

Gerrard doesn't take dribbling as his forte. He didn't even think about dribbling Wood one-on-one.

His task is very simple, to attract Wood, and then pass the football to get rid of George Wood's marking by passing the ball.There is no player in the world who can defend a team's pass, not even George Wood, who is called a "monster" by the media.

When Gerrard saw Wood approaching him, he passed the football.Wood did not follow to chase the ball, he continued to follow Gerrard.The rest of Liverpool will have to deal with the rest of the Forest team.Gerrard is Wood's target for this game.

Gerrard is not worried about being frozen, because Alonso can organize the attack in the team.He was seen dead, but it was just one less offensive point, which did not mean that Liverpool's offense would be paralyzed.

His task is to pull Wood out of the zone and give his teammates a chance.

Alonso saw Wood following Gerrard and he took the opportunity to pass the ball to Torres.

Torres did not break through outside the penalty area, but took a long shot. The football was shot out of the baseline by Van der Sar, and Liverpool won a corner kick.

Gerrard runs to take the corner.Wood returned to the goal to participate in the defense.Although they are teammates of the national team, they have never fought side by side together.In Wood's few appearances for the national team, he must have replaced Gerrard.

Gerrard kicked the football out. He found Agger, but was pushed out by George Wood before the Danish defender.

Although he is not as tall as Agger, his bounce is better than Agger's. Coupled with his good positioning, Agger has no chance in front of Wood.

Liverpool's attack was not over yet.Wood pushed the football out. After receiving the ball, Mascherano assumed a posture to shoot from a long distance.The players of the Forest team have all been repeatedly reminded by Tang En, telling them to pay attention to precautions.Seeing Mascherano swing his leg, Pepe pressed out immediately, ready to use his body to block the opponent's shot.

But Mascherano didn't shoot directly, he took advantage of Pepe's back to him and rubbed the football up.The football flew over the crowd in the penalty area and flew to the right.

That's where Gerald was!

Gerrard, who had kicked the corner kick, hadn't had time to run back to the middle when he saw Mascherano pass the football.Before catching the ball, he looked back at the lineman behind him, not offside!
After stopping the football with the chest, no one from the Forest team had time to defend it.The penalty area is full of people. Gerrard chose to pump the football towards the goal vigorously, so that if no one blocks him, he will go straight into the goal. If someone blocks him, then in all likelihood, he will also block the goal...

The football flew all the way to the goal, and during this period, no one blocked its way.Except... Van der Sar was in the right position and made a timely save.Gerrard's long-range shot was powerful and imposing. Van der Sar didn't intend to hug the football with both hands, he wanted to hit the ball directly to the bottom line.But helplessly, the ball was too fast and too powerful. Before Van der Sar finished his movements, the football hit him with a whimper.

The result of not finishing the toss is that Van der Sar fell back and scored the goal, but the football flew straight into the sky.

Everyone, including the TV cameras, followed the football up and down...

The Liverpool players who reacted desperately squeezed in front of the goal, hoping that when the football fell, they would push it into the goal.The players of the Forest team naturally tried their best to keep the opponent out and not let them approach.

Wood looked up in the crowd, the football had risen to the apex and was falling.Van der Sar was still inside the goal, struggling to get up.

This position is very dangerous for heading the ball because he is directly facing the goal.When he jumps up, the opposing players will definitely interfere below. At that time, it was originally a header to clear the siege, but it may become an own goal.

But it will definitely not work if you don’t clear the siege. Once the football falls, there will be chaos in front of the goal. Whoever touches it at that time may knock the football into the goal that is close at hand.

How will it end then?

Wood looked up at the falling football while leaning back.this pose...

George Wood suddenly jumped high from the crowd. He leaned back, not trying to clear with a header, but... a barb to clear!

The football was kicked by his swung right foot and flew directly out of the touchline!
"George Wood! Barb clearance! Beautiful!"

This action won a lot of applause for Wood, and the fans of Nottingham Forest collectively chanted their captain's name and applauded him for his rescue.

But Tang En, who was standing on the sidelines, was not happy at all, and his brows were furrowed even tighter.

He turned his head to look at the next door again, just at this time Liverpool coach Benitez came out from the coaching bench, obviously he felt very sorry for the missed goal just now, or... still a little dissatisfied?

Benitez didn't wave his arms or shout from the sidelines.He just stood on the sidelines with his hands in his pockets, as if he was not interested in all this.But if he was really as calm as his appearance showed...why did he step out of the coaching bench?

You know, this is the first time he left the coach's seat in this game and appeared on the sidelines.

Tang En turned his head and thought for a while, then laughed.He turned and walked back to the dugout and said to assistant coach Chris Lack, "Go tell them to step up the offense and stop defending."

(End of this chapter)