Chapter 78 Initiative

After halftime, both sides returned to the locker room.

Benitez stood in the home team's locker room, pacing constantly, occasionally glancing at the resting players out of the corner of his eye. He found that the team atmosphere was dull, obviously affected by the backwardness in the first half. , But Benitez can only shake his head and smile bitterly. He is not a coach who is good at using words to inspire players' fighting spirit. He is better at doing practical actions, so he didn't say anything, just kept thinking about the second half of the game.

He had already figured out what to do.

Originally, in this game, he wanted to fight for a game to decide whether to enter the League Cup final, but now the situation of 1:2 behind has made him less confident, and now he is a little afraid. Fight.

If it is 1:1, you can try your best to fight, but 1:2... The backward situation is quite unfavorable for Liverpool, especially in the first half of the game, the team failed to play anything in the situation The advantage, and the opponent's attack is also suppressed. Then in the second half, the situation will not change much without changing the tactics. At that time, it is just a matter of thinking about the outcome of the game. It is estimated that the opponent will win the game. greater chance.

Because of this, Benitez was thinking about strengthening his defense in the second half.

It is not a good choice for the midfielder to change the tactical strategy. The team may not be able to adapt for a while, but he does not have a better choice, otherwise the team is more likely to be defeated. At Anfield, he did not do well. Prepare for defeat.

What's more, this is the semi-final of the League Cup. The game will be decided in two rounds. Although he wants to decide the outcome in one battle, if he loses the opportunity, it is better to keep the suspense.

After coming to Liverpool, Benitez was also somewhat influenced by the team's "Red Army" spirit. What he relies on is his own ability, and the spirit of Liverpool as a whole. He knows that for the sake of the team, these players will fight to the end, but even if he has such a spirit, he must have a correct response strategy. Look, go head-to-head and try to get louder. Obviously a bit unrealistic, then increase the defense. If the opponent doesn't care, maybe Liverpool will have a chance in the second half?

Benitez thought so.

......

Wansheng is also thinking carefully about the locker room of the visiting team at Anfield Stadium.

Like Benitez, he also wants a game to decide the outcome. The current situation is beneficial to the team. First, they can play an advantage. Sheng is considering adjusting his tactics.

Because he suddenly thought that Liverpool and Derby County were unlikely to play the whole game. Especially in the first half, Derby County had a big advantage. Will the Spaniard really be ruthless and play a whole game against Derby County?

Wansheng is not sure.

He is not Benitez after all. He will not be completely sure of the opponent's thoughts, but if he is from Benitez's point of view, he will definitely not let the game continue like this, and when Liverpool adjust their tactics to stabilize the defense and fight back, the situation is likely to be unfavorable for Derby County. .

It's not about Liverpool's defense, but Derby County currently has a score advantage. They don't have to take risks, they should keep their edge.

1:2, not a big score.

It would be satisfying enough if the score ended there.

1:2 means that the team has two away goals. If Liverpool want to win, they must go to the Pride Stadium to play a score of more than 2:0. At the Pride Stadium, Liverpool can score two goals. Keep Derby County scoreless?

It's hard.

So in fact, 1:2 is also a considerable advantage for Derby County.

So no matter how Benitez chooses, for Derby County, the most important thing is not to score. But to keep the current score advantage, that is to say. To properly strengthen the defense.

After careful consideration, Wansheng finally made a decision.

Next, he carefully explained the tactics of the second half, telling the players to strengthen their defense and use the fast-break football played in the league to confront Liverpool.

Fast-break football means fast-break, but in fact, it is purely defensive counterattack, looking for opportunities after solid defense. This is very good at Derby County, and it is also the most favorable way of play for Derby County at present.

This at least ensures that the team's defense is solid.

The defence is solid, and if given the chance, it would be great to extend the score to 1:3, enough to put Derby County in the Carabao Cup final with half a foot.

Even if the score cannot be expanded and the game ends at 1:2, Derby County has a very large advantage. Although the winner cannot be determined in one game, this result is acceptable.

......

At half-time, fans on both sides were talking about the game.

The hearts of Liverpool fans are heavy because they are the team behind, and even here at Anfield, they are the Reds Liverpool, but they don't think the team will definitely win in the second half.

The last time Derby County came to Anfield, it was a 1:2 win, and now the score is 1:2, so can the team recover in the second half?

Liverpool fans have no confidence.

They were all talking about the game, and soon as time passed, the second half of the game was about to start, and Liverpool fans didn't want to think so much. The game is the manager and Liverpool's entire team to worry about, they are Liverpool's Fans, as loyal fans, need to do is to cheer for the team in the game, that's all.

The fans thought it was that simple.

Whether the team is good or bad, they will not change their support for the team, and now when Liverpool are behind, they know that the team needs support.

So the second half was about to start, and when the two teams came out of the tunnel, the cheers at Anfield suddenly became louder, and every Liverpool fan was shouting with the voice, shouting hard. This kind of voice is very shocking.

Those Derby County fans who came to Anfield, listening to these calls, felt that their side and the other side were a lot different.

This may be the gap between small teams and giant teams.

But they are still happy in their hearts, they know why Liverpool fans do this, because Derby County is leading, even if there are more Liverpool fans, even if they have Liverpool's century-old honor in their hearts, even if they used to be England's "nobles". But so what?

Now leading the way is Derby County!

With the voices of fans, various media are also talking about the game. The confrontation between the two teams in the first half attracted a lot of media, which made the commentators also energized. The British BBC Sports Broadcasting commentator also said before the opening, "In the first half, the two teams joined hands in an offensive battle for the fans. I think the second half will definitely be more exciting. We will see Liverpool's offensive and Derby County's wonderful performance!"

He said so. I am also looking forward to it.

As a commentator, he is also a fan. He likes to watch football games very much. From a neutral point of view, watching a neutral game naturally hopes that the game will be exciting, and the first half is obviously very exciting. The attack also reached three goals.

So he started looking forward to the second half.

In the expectation of the fans and the media, the second half finally started, but it was different from what everyone thought. At the beginning of the second half, the two teams did not play very intensely, and the two sides failed to make any threat in several consecutive attacks. On the contrary, the defense of both sides obviously looks a lot more stable.

"Both teams are very cautious." The commentator commented.

The second half just started, the media and fans were not in a hurry, but as time passed, they no longer thought so, watching the tepid game on the court, which was completely contrary to the offensive battle they were looking forward to, so They got it, and both teams stepped up their defenses. The game also became boring.

The neutral media and fans are naturally a little dissatisfied, and the British BBC broadcast commentator also said, "It seems that I guessed wrong. Compared with the first half, the two sides seem to have lost their fighting spirit..."

Of course it is not as simple as losing the fighting spirit.

Some senior media and fans, seeing such a game, know that the coaches of both sides must have emphasized defense at halftime, so the game will become like this. This is a game between the two head coaches, and the game on the court is the battlefield of the game. In the first half, both sides wanted to score goals to gain an advantage, and now both sides have made adjustments at the same time, which shows that the two The coach wants to be steady.

This situation makes neutral fans dissatisfied. However, the fans on both sides did not say anything, and Liverpool fans were still cheering for the team. Derby County fans also occasionally shouted a few words, although they were no bigger than Liverpool fans, but they did not want to weaken their momentum.

For neutral fans, what they see is the excitement of the game; for fans of both sides, the important thing is the result of the game.

As long as the game can be won, it doesn't matter if it is less exciting.

Benitez on the sidelines was surprised. He didn't expect the young Chinese to think of him again, and he seemed to be a step behind. The other party seemed to guess that he would make the team solid defense, so he also Also keep Derby on the defensive, which will give Liverpool few chances, Derby still have the advantage because they are ahead on the scoreline.

Benitez glanced at the Derby County coaching bench, and saw Wan Sheng sitting firmly in his seat, staring blankly at the game.

It seems that he noticed that someone was looking at him, Wan Sheng turned his head and looked at Benitez, and there was a slight smile on the corner of his mouth.

Wansheng is very confident in the game so far.

He guessed that Benitez would strengthen his defense, but this was not because he was much better than Benitez in terms of on-the-spot command, tactics, etc., but because his team had the advantage - the advantage of the situation, the advantage of the score The advantages.

The advantages of both sides have made Liverpool's choices less, and the best choice is naturally to strengthen the defense, mainly because this is the semi-final of the League Cup, and the two games will decide the outcome.

As long as the situation is stabilized, there is still a chance for the next matchup, and Liverpool naturally don’t need to take big risks to continue to attack.

This is initiative.

If there is no Ribery's last goal in the first half, the score will be 1:1, and Wansheng will have a hard time guessing how Benitez will choose. If the score is 1:0 and Liverpool leads, then Derby The county has become the passive side, and the headache will become Wansheng. No matter what means he uses, Benitez can deal with it calmly. This is the initiative brought by the score advantage.

The leading side always holds the initiative. They attack when they want to, because they can lose, while the backward side cannot afford to lose because they cannot afford to concede any more goals.

So Liverpool don't have many choices. Now they are solidly defending, in fact, they are looking for opportunities and regain their advantages.

But Wansheng will not give the opponent a chance.

Wansheng also makes the team solid defense, so it becomes very difficult for Liverpool to tie the game. If they are willing to lose to Derby County, it will be better, otherwise, Derby County will be more likely to get a chance when the scene is chaotic.

......

PS: Cheeky ask for a few recommended tickets. (To be continued ~^~)