Reborn Liverpool

Chapter 423 Victory returns to Liverpool

Liverpool defeated Manchester City in a penalty shootout and won the League Cup this season, making a good start for more gains. The elated British media and fans temporarily forgot the "Zhang Mai's physical discomfort" incident some time ago.

The victory returned to Liverpool, the Red Army fans credited the comeback to Zhang Mai, and the teammates were as happy as All England.

On Zhang Mai's side, Crott has been in private contact with the top giants in Europe. There are only a few giants who can afford a transfer fee of 2 million euros. Everyone communicates quietly. Don't shoot, it is considered temporary Avoid the pervasive British media.

The league continues to be in full swing. On Friday, March 3st, a focus battle in the 1th round of the Premier League will be held at Anfield Stadium. Liverpool will face Watford.

In another league game played earlier on the same day, Manchester City, which lost the League Cup, beat West Ham United 1-0 at home, temporarily leading Liverpool by 2 points.

Watford is the dark horse of this year's league and is currently ranked 8th. The Red Army did not dare to neglect even in the face of Lianping, and almost sent out their own main lineup.

Liverpool (4-3-3):

13- Alisson;
66-Arnold, 3-Maguire, 4-Van Dijk, 26-Robertson;
7- Milner, 5- Wijnaldum, 10- Zhang Mai;

11-Salah, 27-Origi, 10-Mane.

Alisson, who is not seriously injured, still starts, Zhang Mai leads the midfield, Milner and Origi play in rotation, and Brazilian striker Firmino takes a rest.

After the start of the game, Liverpool didn't have the host's bearing to press the whole army, and the host team bombed indiscriminately.

Only 3 minutes into the game, Foster's clearance was blocked by Milner's flying shovel, and the ball was deflected and bounced and was confiscated.

Liverpool took the lead in the 9th minute. Arnold made a cross from the right, and the unguarded Mane scored with a header from the edge of the penalty area, 1-0!

In the 20th minute, Liverpool expanded the score. Salah's strong breakthrough on the right side of the penalty area was blocked. Wijnaldum knocked back and Arnold made a pass. Mane, who succeeded in anti-offside, stopped the ball poorly, but he slammed his heel 12 yards after turning around. Scored the goal, 2-0.

Mane scored twice, and the excited Senegalese star hugged Zhang Mai, who had nothing to do with the first two goals.

"Let go! If you hold it again, you won't score any goals."

Zhang Mai, who felt that he had no credit, was also dumbfounded.

"No, no... You are the team's nuclear weapon and lucky star on the field. It's been a long time since you scored such a goal!"

The game continued, Liverpool continued to attack wildly, and other Red Army players also wanted to score goals!

In the 23rd minute, Milner passed the ball and Salah missed the outside shot...

Five minutes later, Salah's outside shot was confiscated, and the Egyptian grabbed his hair in annoyance.

In the 37th minute, Arnold passed the ball again. Salah forced a shot from the right side of the penalty area and was blocked, then hit the near corner post and rebounded and was cleared...

Milner then shot again in the penalty area and was rescued. In the end, Wijnaldum missed the outside shot.

In the first minute of stoppage time in the first half, the visiting team had their first decent attack. Dini missed a pass from Deulofeu from close range.

In the last minute of stoppage time, Robertson received a direct pass and passed a small angle from the left side of the penalty area to the far corner.

Even though Zhang Mai devoted all his efforts to defense in the first half, killing the visiting team's offensive before the midfield, Liverpool still led 2-0.

In the second half, the two teams changed places to fight again. Zhang Mai still focused on defense, but Origi was added to the Red Army's invincible offensive.

In the 49th minute, Origi's two shots from outside the top of the arc in the counterattack were blocked, and the Belgian's arc shot from the upper left corner of the penalty area was also confiscated.

In the 57th minute, Origi made a pass from the left side of the penalty area. Mane stopped the ball 10 yards and turned around to volley and was blocked.

Liverpool sealed the victory in the 66th minute, Robertson passed the ball, and Origi made a detour from 15 yards on the left side of the penalty area and shot into the net from a close angle, 3-0.

The emperor paid off, and Origi, who has been sitting on the bench, finally scored his second Premier League goal of the season.

In the 70th minute, seeing that the overall situation of the game had been decided, Klopp sent Henderson to replace Milner.

Shortly afterwards, the visiting team finally had their first shot, Hughes passed the ball, and Gray, who came off the bench, shot from a small angle on the right side of the penalty area and was saved.

In the 78th minute, Liverpool replaced Mane by Lallana, and Mane lost his chance to score a hat trick.

One minute later, Arnold made a free kick from the right, and Van Dijk, who was instigated by Zhang Mai, overwhelmed the two with a header from the edge of the penalty area, 1-2!

Watford, which was behind by four goals in the away game, has long been defeated, but Liverpool's ferocious firepower still has not restrained in the slightest.

In the 82nd minute, Robertson made a pass from the left, and Van Dijk scored with a header in front of the small penalty area, 5-0!

The Red Army's flying wings allowed Van Dijk to score twice, but it was hard for Maguire and Zhang Mai who were responsible for holding the defense.

Shortly thereafter, Liverpool used up their last substitution and Keita replaced Wijnaldum.

At the end of the game, the home team beat their opponents 5-0. The Red Army beat Watford by 3 goals at home for 5 consecutive seasons.

Top killers such as Zhang Mai and Salah are willing to be green leaves, Mane and Van Dijk both scored twice, Origi scored a goal, Liverpool still leads by 1 point after winning at home.

……

Liverpool's big victory awakened fans and the media's memories of the terrifying Red Army in the second half of last year. The "Echo" declared after the game:

"Zhang Mai made the strongest Liverpool come back! Tough and tough Manchester City challenge, this is the only way to play for the championship."

Liverpool beat Watford 5-0 at home, and Liverpool still lead the Premier League standings by 1 point.

What is gratifying about this game is not only that it is a big victory, but also that it is of great significance to Liverpool.

The whole Liverpool team showed a very relaxed state during the game today, and the game process was not difficult for them.

In the 9th minute, the Red Army took the lead with Mane's goal, opening the scoring account of the game.

In terms of game statistics, they also comprehensively suppressed their opponents.Liverpool had a total of 19 shots in this game, 10 of which were on target, and 629 passes.In contrast to Watford, they only had 5 shots, 1 of which was on target, and only 390 passes.

Recently, Liverpool's state can be said to be ups and downs. They have all tied in the last four rounds of the Premier League. Their opponents are Crystal Palace, Leicester City, West Ham United and Manchester United. They were caught up by Manchester City to only 4 point.

Especially in the last game against Manchester United, when the opponent had three main players injured and retired one after another, they were forced to run out of substitutions, and Rashford, who insisted on completing the game, was also injured. Take your chance for a win.

The Red Army's title rival, Manchester City, went all out, defeating strong opponents such as Arsenal and Chelsea one after another, catching up closely, and narrowing the points gap to only 1 point left.

So although Liverpool are still in the lead, most of the pressure has already come to them.

But with the appearance of Zhang Mai, today's Liverpool has undergone great changes. They have shown full momentum throughout the game to oppress their opponents.

Especially in terms of offense, not only forwards like Mane and Origi can help the team score goals, but even defensive players like Van Dijk have scored twice.

In addition to the regular main aces Mane and Van Dijk scoring two goals each, there are two other people worth mentioning: Origi and Arnold.

Firmino's slight injury gave coach Klopp a multiple-choice question, Sturridge or Origi?
The German finally chose the latter, and the Belgian striker, who rarely played, seized the opportunity. Apart from that goal, Origi's cooperation with his teammates in the frontcourt was also very good.

This is the 23-year-old Divock Origi's second Premier League start this season and his first start at Anfield in all competitions since May 2017.

More important than goals is Origi's tactical role. Next to center Mane, he serves as the left winger of 433. With his speed and assault ability, Watford's right back Jan Matt has a headache. For Origi Klopp should be satisfied with his discipline and contribution in the tactical system.

The Daily Mail commented on Origi's performance as follows:
"He deserved that moment of scoring at Anfield, the first time Klopp has lost his trident (Firmino, Salah, Mane) in a starting line-up since December 12 last year, and O'Neal Riggi paid off for the manager, he was unselfish throughout the game and the goal in the 8th minute was brilliant."

Origi became famous in one fell swoop after his outstanding performance in the 2014 World Cup, but since coming to Liverpool, he has not had many opportunities. He was loaned to Wolfsburg last season and did not start to play until November this season.

In the Merseyside derby, Origi was lucky to score the winning goal (the opponent's goalkeeper made a mistake), which gave him some confidence.

The reason why Klopp used him in this game was to use the Belgian's breakthrough and dribbling ability, which proved to be the right one.

In addition to scoring goals, Origi made many selfless passes and found teammates with better opportunities, such as making a good goal for Fabinho's long shot. In addition, his cooperation with left-back Robertson is also good, showing There is a certain tacit agreement.

People always say that Liverpool rely on their main trident, but the season is long, and the Red Army can't play all the games with these three.

In some games, it is very important for someone to stand up and help the team. Whether it is Origi, Sturridge, or Shaqiri, whether they can share the pressure of the main frontcourt is largely determined. How long can Liverpool's championship momentum last?

With Origi's performance, he may be worthy of more opportunities. You must know that in his past 18 league appearances (across seasons), Origi's report card is 7 goals and 4 assists, which is actually quite good.

Another Liverpool lad to admire is Alexander-Arnold, his cross is fantastic.

Mane's two goals and Van Dijk's first header all came from Arnold's assists. These three balls were all crosses from the right. The arc, height, speed and accuracy are commendable.

From this hat-trick of assists, it can be seen that the England guy's cross was by no means a coincidence, but a real kung fu with his feet.

When Liverpool faced lesser opponents, the wings of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Robertson helped to provide the attacking width that the team needed.

Both of these two young people have "real kung fu", one is really able to run, the other is really able to pass, to exaggerate, the Red Army also has its own version of "left long sword, right machete".

Of course, the defensive abilities of these two full-backs still need to be polished. Judging from Milner's use of Manchester United's right-back, Klopp believes that young people's ability to fight tough battles still needs to be improved.

Watford is not a soft persimmon. It was ranked seventh in the Premier League before this game. It is a hard bone outside the top six, but it seems to be the favorite dish of the Red Army.

This 5-0 victory is enough to re-boost Liverpool's confidence. More importantly, in Origi and others, Klopp saw the potential of the team's lineup. Halberd, whether bench players and fringe players like Origi can stand up and make shots at critical moments may even be an important factor in whether the Red Army can bite in the sprint stage of the season.

When all players can make their own contributions to the team's offense, this also allows us to once again see the Liverpool team with terrifying offensive capabilities.

Liverpool's opponent Watford in this game is ranked 8th in the standings, which can be regarded as a relatively high ranking, so their ability should not be underestimated.

Being able to defeat such a top 10 opponent in the league, especially a 5-0 victory, can greatly improve their morale for Liverpool, and morale is undoubtedly the most important thing for Liverpool now thing.

The Red Army needs to adjust their mental state as soon as possible to face the huge pressure of the championship. At this stage, every step cannot be missed. Ability is one aspect, but the morale and mentality of the team can determine who can laugh at last.

Only by keeping your feet steady and moving forward step by step can you have the possibility of winning the championship.

If Liverpool refrigerates Zhang Mai again, it can only be that the Red Army will automatically give up the league championship this season!

For Liverpool, who are so close to the three consecutive championships, they are naturally unwilling to give up such an opportunity easily.

The importance of Zhang Mai to the Red Army can also be seen through the game against Watford. This game may become a good start for their next championship stage.

……

Liverpool hit the bottom and rebounded, Manchester City approached step by step, and Tottenham, who was originally in the "top three championships", pulled their hips again and suffered a losing streak this round.

In the standings, Pochettino's team and the top two have opened up 9 points and 8 points.

So much so that the headline of the "Daily Mail" read: "The Premier League is sure that the two horses will compete for 10 years? Tottenham, you are not the champion!"

Manchester City and Liverpool both won, while Tottenham ushered in a losing streak. The Premier League has completely turned into a two-horse race, and Tottenham's championship hopes are fading away!
At Stamford Bridge, watching Trippier and Hugo Lloris jointly staged an own goal, the Tottenham coach may only be dejected...

The 0-2 away loss to Chelsea is not unpopular, but for a team aspiring to compete for the championship, this is a tough battle that needs to be scored, but Tottenham once again lost the chain.

Maybe Tottenham have no ambition to win the championship at all?Pochettino's words after losing to Burnley once caused an uproar:
"We're 10 years away from having a championship mentality."

Pochettino said: "If you can't show a stronger desire to win, then you don't deserve more. This is also something that holds us back. My fear is that it may take more than five years of hard work to change, maybe it will take more than five years." ten years."

Pochettino was venting his emotions. Losing to Burnley made him very upset, but saying this publicly at this moment will have any negative impact on the team. Has the Argentine ever thought about it?
"Daily Mail" even designed the lines for Chelsea, which is currently ranked 6th--Sarri to Uncle Bo: Don't fight for the championship, let's fight for the fourth with me!

England's former talented star Joe Cole commented on BT Sports, and it was inappropriate to bombard Pochettino:
"If I were Kane or Dele Alli and my manager said we were five or ten years away from the championship, I would immediately call my agent (ask for a transfer)."

"Pochettino has improved but I don't see him changing the mentality of Tottenham because in games like Burnley they used to make mistakes and they're still making them. Those quality England players , Like Kane and Ali, they definitely want to win the Premier League championship, but now the coach says so..."

After Tottenham lost to Chelsea this round, the British media even made fun of Pochettino:
"In 2029, the 35-year-old Kane is still looking forward to the Premier League championship, the 37-year-old Eriksson has probably grown a beard, and Trippier is 38 years old, but from time to time, because of the black man against Chelsea 10 years ago Woke up from the dream. If Pochettino is right, Tottenham will probably win the Premier League in 2029."

……

"This is the importance of the team coach's high emotional intelligence!"

Klopp triumphantly placed the "Daily Mail" that ridiculed Pochettino in front of Zhang Mai:
"Even if I scold the management in my heart for disregarding the overall situation, I still have to take the risk of losing points and carry out their orders calmly - put you on the bench, and finally succeeded in pinning the blame on them as well."

Yes, during this period of time, Kroter was eager to make big things in European football, and he left it to his compatriot Klopp to strengthen the friendship with Zhang Mai in his free time.

(End of this chapter)