"This game is really too intense! I feel like I blinked my eyes and the first half was over!" Zhan Jun said cheerfully after a variety of advertisements and the camera returned to the pp sports live broadcast room.
"This game is by far the most intense and fastest-paced of all competitions, including the recent Champions League games!" Zhang Lu said with a smile.
"There isn't much to say about Liverpool, except for the last-gasp kick, the midfield suppression, and the backcourt defense. There are no obvious loopholes. It's just that Chelsea's shooting is more efficient!"
"In the first half, Chelsea was under pressure from Liverpool. Although they were often passive in the midfield and backfield, they actually enjoyed it!"
"Liverpool's tactical strategy of not retreating and attacking from the front will give Chelsea some gaps behind it. Sarri's idea has been very clear since the first half. If I don't compete with you in the midfield, I will catch you and press behind the attack.
The gap behind you! Use the speed of Hazard and Willian!"
"Hazard is not afraid of pressing on the left side. This player is a very strong dribbler. Sometimes he can bring the ball out when three or two people come up to attack him!"
"As for Chelsea's right wing, William does not have such good personal skills, so William's offensive strategy on the side is mainly to cooperate with his teammates in passing and cutting, and find opportunities to directly insert behind Liverpool!"
"Morata in the center plays a role in coordinating the two wingers and interfering with Liverpool's defense. He will constantly try to take away one of the two central defenders when attacking. Gomez was taken away once in the first half.
Let’s go!”
"Sarri's tactics don't happen many times, but once they are used once, the effect is often extremely fatal!" Zhang Lu's analysis ended.
"Yes, that's how Chelsea's goal was scored in the first half. If you score it once, it will be fatal!" Zhan Jun answered,
Not long after, the second half of the game officially began with the referee Atkinson's whistle.
"Okay, audience friends, the second half has begun!"
In the second half, neither Liverpool nor Chelsea made any substitutions.
However, Liverpool made some changes at the tactical level. Mo Yang followed Klopp's instructions during the halftime break. He reduced the number of retreats to participate in defense and began to blast Kovacic's side of Chelsea's half.
In the dressing room at halftime, Klopp analyzed it very clearly.
On Kovacic's side, when Chelsea defended in the first half, his positioning often deviated, sometimes seriously, so that they could focus on the lone left back Alonso in the side ribs.
As long as Luis is forced out to rescue the helpless Alonso, Chelsea will have an opportunity in the ribs.
As for Kanter, Mo Yang also has a way to deal with it. It's still the same old thing, that is, if this guy can't steal it, then he won't be given a chance to get close.
This is also the tactic used by Premier League teams to restrict Kante for the past two years. They take the ball and move it immediately to allow Kante to miss.
There is no need to doubt this tactic, because every time a team adopts this tactic against Kanter, this guy's defensive data will drop significantly.
Although it cannot be said to be completely restrictive, it is excellent to have this effect.
After the game started, Liverpool did not have the aggressive momentum that they had in the first half. Instead, they were as gentle as water, with murderous intent brewing under the calm surface. After all, the game did not only last forty-five minutes.
After the opening, it was obvious that Liverpool's pressing intensity dropped a lot, but their cooperation increased, and the pace of the game was still very fast when attacking.
Chelsea, on the other hand, were leading by one goal. They played very relaxedly, and their tactical policy was exactly the same as in the first half. Kante was responsible for grabbing, Jorginho was responsible for transferring, and then immediately caught Liverpool behind.
After several rounds of back-and-forth between the two sides, the game reached the 50th minute. Van Dijk received the ball from the striker and passed it directly to Alisson.
Alisson waited for Henderson to come back from the center before releasing the ball.
After Henderson got the ball, he looked back and saw Jorginho following behind him unhurriedly. He turned around without risking the ball and passed it to Arnold.
As a result, the moment Arnold took the ball, Kovacic suddenly started to press forward.
Arnold looked at Henderson who was pressing the ribs and found that Jorginho had cut off the ball release point, so he started to pass forward without saying anything.
But under pressure, Arnold, who took the ball hastily, passed the ball.
Kovacic was more than ten meters away on the wing, Mo Yang was inside, Gomez was on the sideline, and Hazard was between the two. The three of them were almost parallel, but Arnold gave the ball to Hazard.
Seeing this scene, Henderson immediately pressed up, stood parallel to Gomez, and pressed Hazard, who was dribbling the ball laterally towards the center.
Hazard was also very alert and never allowed Henderson and Gomez to find the opportunity to stretch their legs. He took a few meters horizontally and suddenly passed back to Kante on the left side of the center circle.
Kanter quickly knocked the ball forward and distributed the ball to Kovacic on the wing.
On Liverpool's side, the defense quickly reorganized and the players took their respective positions.
Arnold stepped forward to mark Kovacic, and in the area in front of the inside ribs, Henderson followed Hazard, and Mo Yang was in the middle, cutting off the passing line.
But Kovacic is not a rookie on the court either. He didn't wait for Mo Yang to reach his position, suddenly passed the ball across the ball and found Hazard.
Mo Yang stretched out his foot to intercept, but he could not touch it.
Gomez and Van Dijk are both in the ribs, facing the wing, one in front and Morata in the middle.
Gomez was ready to play with Hazard, but he didn't expect Hazard to come to the ball, stagger his feet, and leak the ball to Morata behind him.
At this moment, Gomez realized what Hazard wanted to do. Instead of turning to the right and continuing to follow Hazard, he turned left and entered the penalty area, faced the center, and ran forward quickly.
The next second, Morata, who was not stopping the ball, came over and intercepted the ball just in front of him.
Hazard, who was running around behind Gomez, was just one step away from catching the ball. He could only watch as the ball hit Gomez's feet and bounced out of the penalty area.
This thrilling scene scared the fans at the scene to let out a short exclamation again.
"Gomez's defense is very exciting! His positioning sense is very good!" Zhang Lu praised.
"What a risk, I almost got beaten by Chelsea again!"
In the ribs, Van Dijk, who was also shaken by the leaked ball, quickly passed the ball to Arnold on the wing.
Arnold went directly to the frontcourt to make a clearance.
The ball was returned to the center line of the wing by Rudiger, allowing Luis to get it.
Seeing Louis dribbling the ball horizontally, Mo Yang quickly leaned forward and kept stretching his feet to hook the ball. After a few breaths, Louis couldn't hold it anymore and fell to the ground.
But Atkinson blew the foul whistle and gave Chelsea a set kick.
Mo Yang looked helpless. He was not blind in the Champions League or World Cup, but he was blind when he returned to the Premier League. There is really nothing he can do about Atkinson's selective blindness.
Mo Yang was walking back when he suddenly saw William running towards the left side of the penalty area in front of the top of the key, and he immediately realized that Chelsea was going to serve a set kick quickly.
Looking back, sure enough, the ball was already in the sky, flying directly towards William who started in advance from the center and went all the way to the left side of the penalty area.
Mo Yang immediately started sprinting and headed straight for the penalty area.
Other Liverpool players were also caught off guard.
The only good thing is that Luiz also successfully deceived the Chelsea players with his quick release. Except for Morata, no one else could follow up immediately.
On the left side of the penalty area, outside the upper corner of the small penalty area, William got the ball, but was successfully stuck on the outside by Robertson, who was following him all the way, forcing him to the baseline.
After Mo Yang rushed into the penalty area, he got ahead of Gomez and rushed directly to the sideline of the small penalty area on the left. He and Van Dijk on the right pinched Morata in the middle who was about to meet William.
Sure enough, William used a baseline feint to break through Robertson, and then immediately passed the ball. Although the ball successfully reached Morata's feet, Mo Yang, who was in time, extended his foot and poked the ball out of the baseline.
This scene made Klopp frightened on the sidelines, and he also realized that Sarri had not completely abandoned Conte's legacy tactics.
While Sarri is implementing his own passing and controlling football, he also integrates the offensive strategy of precision strikes in the backcourt left by Conte.
"After the start of the second half, Chelsea players played more relaxedly, and these two attacks were extremely threatening."
"But Liverpool's defense is really good! Especially Mo Yang and Gomez, these two defenses are too critical, otherwise if Morata is allowed to get the ball as a fulcrum, with this guy's... um...! You
Pretend I didn’t say it!”
"Hahaha……"
Before Zhang Lu could finish his words, he saw linesman Te Miao in the camera raising his flag again, indicating that Chelsea would be offside before taking the goal kick. His face suddenly twitched.
Zhan Jun was so happy that he almost burst into tears, laughing, "Morata is offside again. This is really a man standing still, offside!"
"Haha!" This time it was Zhang Lu's turn to be amused. He was really speechless. This player was always on the offside line trying to die.