On August 12, Liverpool went to Hertfordshire, England to face Watford away from home.
Mo Yang, who was suspended, also came to Watford to watch the team's first league game live and stay with the Red Army fans.
Mo Yang is not too worried about playing this team. Last season, they played against Watford twice, and both times they slaughtered Watford with more than four goals.
Moreover, Liverpool has achieved a record of 8 wins and 2 losses in ten meetings with Watford in recent years.
Even though this is an away game and there is no home field advantage, he feels that there should be no problem in winning the game.
Watford had a high start and a low start last season. In the second half of the league, they suffered six consecutive defeats like mercury. They dropped directly from seventh place in the first half of the league to 15th place, almost falling into the quagmire of relegation.
But after the game started, Mo Yang felt unfamiliar with Watford's performance.
Liverpool did not have much of an advantage in the match. Instead, Watford seized two counterattack opportunities, passing directly from the wing and completing two extremely threatening headers.
Then Mo Yang understood Watford's tactical thinking for this game.
Watford has a very clear layout on the defensive end, with a strong purpose, which is to stick to Salah and Mane, restrict the two people's space for movement on the wing, and carry out high-intensity pressing within a 35-meter area of their own side.
Mo Yang had to admit that Watford's tactics were very targeted, and their tactical layout was successful and effective.
In the first ten minutes, Mane, Salah and Firmino, who were already in poor condition, could be said to be invisible.
The Liverpool Trident, who scored a lot of goals last season, created very few killing opportunities, which made people feel very strange.
Klopp in the coaching area was also a little surprised!
When Watford is defending, the position of the players is 541. One person is left in the frontcourt to counterattack. One of the midfield and defense lines retreats into the penalty area for low defense, and the other is on the penalty area line. The two lines are closely connected.
Less than ten minutes into the game, Klopp encountered such a problem that gave Klopp a headache.
At this moment, he missed Mo Yang very much.
If Mo Yang were on the court, Salah and Mane, whose space was compressed by Watford's two tight defense lines, would not be so difficult that they could not even catch the ball.
On the field, Liverpool once again hit the right side of Watford's penalty area from the left wing.
After Moreno gave the ball to the inward-looking Mane, he moved forward along the wing, but Mane did not pass the ball to him again, but took the ball and stopped on the rib sideline.
Firmino, who was at the top of the arc in the middle, saw it and ran directly over.
Mane suddenly passed the ball to Firmino, and then quickly crossed into the penalty area.
But the moment Firmino received the ball, he and Mane were directly surrounded by Watford players standing in the four corners, like a constantly tightening pocket, constantly compressing the two people's space for movement.
In the stands, as soon as he saw Mane passing the ball, Mo Yang guessed Mane's offensive intention and just shook his head and smiled bitterly.
This won't work!
Sure enough, the next second, Mo Yang saw Firmino getting the ball and being hit from behind by Watford's French midfielder Doucouré. He was completely unable to withstand the strong Doucouré and was hit.
Staggered a few steps forward.
Then Firmino was naturally trapped in a three-man double-team, and the ball was intercepted without giving Mane a chance to pass the ball.
Of course, even if he finds a chance to pass the ball, there is a defensive player next to Mane, and there is a high probability that Mane will not be able to catch the ball.
Mo Yang knows Firmino’s characteristics very well.
His advantage is in sports battles. If you can pass the ball to his feet while he is running, his ability to escape will be very strong.
But if you ask him to calm down, then put the ball at his feet, and let him act as the fulcrum in the frontcourt and rely on the opponent to play, it is completely embarrassing for him.
Mo Yang feels that Klopp should let Ibrahimovic play. During this period, he has been training with Ibrahimovic every day. He knows the characteristics of this Swede very well.
He is definitely the best all-around forward in today's football, and being a fulcrum is no problem.
In the 15th minute of the game, Liverpool scored in the Watford half for the Nth time, but was forced to pass back again without any surprise.
Arnold passed back from the wing to Matip.
Matip hit the ball again and hit Henderson on the right side of the center circle.
However, before Henderson could stop the ball, he was stuck by Watford forward Okaka. Due to the entanglement between the two sides, he could only choose to pass the ball directly to Firmino who was retreating in front.
As a result, as soon as Firmino started, he was squeezed by Watford right center back Kaboul and his speed dropped sharply, and he failed to get the ball.
Kabul met the ball and knocked it to Doucoure in front of him.
Doucoure saw Henderson rushing over before he caught the ball, so Doucoure, who was facing away from the Liverpool half, raised his right foot and knocked it with the inside, hitting Okaka in the center circle.
When Mo Yang saw Ducoure's pass in the stands, he subconsciously simulated the best offensive line in his mind.
Sure enough, Watford's next offensive line was exactly the same as the offensive line simulated in his mind.
Okaka received the ball and quickly advanced the ball, like a heavy tank in motion.
Lallana pressed Okaka, but he was completely unable to move the Italian forward. Even a tackle on the ground failed to stop Okaka's advancement.
Suddenly Liverpool's defense was in chaos.
Seeing Okaka rushing towards him with the ball, Matip stopped where he was. Waiting for the Italian to get slightly closer, he grabbed the ball without saying a word.
But he was still a step slow. Okaka was very smart. At the moment Matip rushed over, he raised his right foot and pushed the ball away from Matip.
Watford left winger Pereira started to advance at high speed the moment Okaka passed the ball.
Arnold again suffered from inexperience. He underestimated Pereira's speed and failed to follow him immediately.
By the time he reacted, Watford's counterattack had already been completed.
After Pereira got the ball, he went straight to Karius.
Although Lovren in the middle returned to defense in time, he made the wrong choice at the right time. He rushed back and directly stretched out his feet to steal.
But Herrera made a change of pace to the right and avoided his attack this time.
Immediately afterwards, Herrera, who was caught between Lovren and Arnold, suddenly spiked the ball to the left, avoiding Arnold again.
Lovren was also shaken and ran a step forward.
Herrera seized the gap and took a shot without hesitation, volleying it into the far corner very cleanly.
The ball hit the post and bounced into the goal, helping Watford take the lead in breaking through Liverpool's goal.
Seeing the birth of this goal, Mo Yang directly covered his face.
After Watford took the lead, the cheers of the Hornets fans filled the Vicarage Road stadium.
Klopp also smiled helplessly on the sidelines. If Van Dijk had been on the court, Herrera would never have let Herrera get away so easily.
It's a pity that Van Dijk caught a cold and was not included in the squad for this game.
After Watford took the lead, they played more steadily in the following games and were able to seize opportunities to counterattack from time to time.
This situation lasted until the end of the first half, when Mane seized the opportunity, broke into the Watford penalty area from the ribs, received Firmino's through ball, and directly shot into the far corner of the goal.
Evened the score.
This is also the last goal of the game.
Although Klopp made adjustments in the second half and replaced Ibrahimovic to establish a fulcrum in Liverpool's frontcourt, Salah still couldn't find the feeling of scoring goals. Even passing the ball began to make some low-level mistakes, which left people speechless.
In the end, the game ended with a score of 1-1.
While Liverpool and Watford shook hands in this game, it also made countless teams see Liverpool's sluggish state.