Chapter 970 The House Leaked and It Rained All Night

From the first second of the game, the singing in the KOP stands never stopped, and the Liverpool players' strict defense of Sun Wu never relaxed.

In fact, Sun Wu chose the 343 formation. The biggest advantage lies in the midfield. It seems to be four midfielders, but Lucas and Coleman on the wings can open up the width. Griezmann and Bernardo Schier Watt will retreat from the rib position to support the midfielder, and even the left and right central defenders will press forward at the right time.

There are only three people in Liverpool's midfield, the double midfielders of N'Zonzi and Henderson, and Coutinho, who nominally plays as an attacking midfielder but actually stands on the left.

But in fact, Coutinho was completely a central midfielder in the first half, and Gotze and Depay on the wings also retreated very deep. This directly led to Manchester United not having an advantage in the midfield.

In the 32nd minute, Liverpool launched the most threatening offensive in the first half. Coutinho cleverly got rid of Sun Wu and attracted Kante to pounce. After that, the Brazilian sent a cross.

Firmino, who received the ball, resisted the oncoming Phil Jones, and then sent a penetrating diagonal pass with his right foot. Gotze took the ball from the wing and crossed it immediately.

"Götze...crossed!"

"Peripheral... Depay... oh, Coutinho takes a long shot!"

"The crossbar, the crossbar at Anfield rejected Coutinho!"

A huge sigh sounded over the pitch. Coutinho covered his face with his hands but then put them down and gave Gotze and Depay a thumbs up.

Sun Wu, who stopped halfway back to defend, panted and watched the ball hit the crossbar and fly out of the baseline. He immediately reacted. Klopp caught the weakest link in Manchester United's lineup.

The advantage of Manchester United's 343 formation lies in the midfield and the numerical advantage. The attack emphasizes the wings and ribs, but the center is a loophole.

On the one hand, this loophole lies in the offense. Due to the lack of a central player, Sun Wu had to position himself in a pre-positioned position, and even rushed into the penalty area to grab points to share the pressure on the center.

On the other hand, precisely because of Sun Wu's positional conditions, single midfielder Kanter is under great pressure. Even if Kanter is currently recognized as one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League, it will be difficult for him to block this gap.

This is why in the same 343 formation, Conte arranged Matic and Schneiderlin as double midfielders and abandoned Cesc Fabregas.

Mike Phelan turned his head and glanced at Klopp. This guy has studied Manchester United's 343 formation very thoroughly. Firmino retreated to attract Phil Jones, and Gotze's cross was deliberately sent outside the penalty area. .

Depay, who came in, and Coutinho, who inserted in the back row, both appeared outside the penalty area. The former chose to leak the ball under the pressure of Kante, and the latter even had time to adjust twice before taking the shot. If it weren't for luck, Well, United have conceded a goal.

Want to change the formation?

This question is swirling in the minds of Sun Wu and Mike Phelan.

Will they change sides?

This doubt also exists in Klopp's mind.

Sun Wu made a static tactical gesture to Mike Phelan, and then ran back himself.

In the remaining 10 minutes of the first half, Sun Wu chose to retreat and form a double midfielder with Kanter. As a result, it was difficult for Liverpool to find another chance, but it was also difficult for Manchester United to organize an effective offensive.

The first half ended 0-0.

“It’s a bit bland.

Mortensen smiled and said: "Steve, without you on the court, the Double Red Club seems to be missing something." "

"No, no, no." Gerrard shook his head and said, "I think the excitement will appear in the second half, or even until the last quarter of an hour."

"Manchester United's physical fitness is indeed a disadvantage." Mortensen reminded: "But you must know that Best gave up the League Cup, and no one was still on the field in that game... not one of them!"

"It can't be calculated like that." Gerrard smiled happily. "Flying to Japan to play in the Club World Cup, it's such a long flight back and forth, and then immediately comes the Christmas schedule, and then there is a dense schedule in January, which means more than a month. Manchester United has almost no rest time, and the long and intensive schedule will have a great impact on physical fitness, which will be reflected in the last quarter of an hour."

Gerrard's analysis makes sense. Dr. Sver has already issued a warning to Sun Wu. The latter also observed in the coaching system that despite rotation, the physical reserves of most players are close to the critical value.

How to deal with all this is the biggest challenge to Sun Wu's coaching work this season.

In the locker room, the players were resting or eating some fruit. Sun Wu, Mike Phelan and Rolf were discussing the tactics for the second half in the corner.

"The 19-game winning streak is just an accessory. It has no value other than good looks." Sun Wu first came to this conclusion. "Klopp thinks we will try our best to win, but we can tolerate a draw."

"This is a tie. With the same number of rounds, we are 2 points behind Manchester City." Rolf nodded in agreement, "It's acceptable."

"No formation?" Mike Phelan understood the implication of Sun Wu's words, "No substitutions?"

"Well, I will retreat and let Griezmann go behind Falcao to link up the frontcourt. He has this ability." Sun Wu nodded, "If there are no accidents, let Harry Kane come on before the 70th minute. "

Mike Phelan thought for a while but did not refute, and turned to explain to the players. Rolf worriedly asked in a low voice: "Best, if Liverpool presses high, Lucas and Coleman on the wings will be pushed back. It’s difficult for the frontcourt offense to open up gaps.”

Will Liverpool press high in the second half?

I am very sure of that!

But the key is when to press high... Sun Wu can't guess Klopp's thinking. It may be the beginning of the second half, or it may last until the 75th minute when Manchester United players are exhausted.

After 10 minutes, returning to the court, Sun Wu felt that Klopp was too thief.

When he saw that Sun Wu was still retreating significantly, Klopp shouted loudly from the sidelines, and Liverpool immediately pressed forward to press high.

In fact, this is Liverpool's most dangerous moment. Sun Wu and Bernardo Silva both have the ability to send fatal passes. Falcao and Griezmann have very strong personal abilities and can pass and shoot each other. There is also a tacit understanding.

But Sun Wu was mentally prepared. Coleman and Lucas both retreated to defend. Although Coutinho, Gotze and Henderson all got shooting opportunities, they were not a big threat.

Then... Liverpool retreated. Klopp gave up the high press and retreated to the midfield to wait for Manchester United to press forward.

Klopp didn't believe it. Faced with a record-breaking 19th consecutive league victory, could Sun Wu bear to give up?

In fact, although Sun Wu is not too obsessed with 19 consecutive victories, he really wants to win this game, because if he wins, he can tie Manchester City in points.

But what happened in the next ten minutes disrupted all Sun Wu's arrangements during the halftime break.

In the 54th minute, Liverpool stole the ball in midfield and immediately had a chance. Although Depay was surrounded by Coleman and Alderweireld, he got a corner kick.

Coutinho took a corner kick, and De Gea made a rare error in judgment. He failed to get the ball...

"De Gea made a mistake... Nzonzi... and... Gotze!"

"Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal!"

"Mario Gotze's goal gave Liverpool a 1-0 lead at home!"

Gerald jumped up and said, "Super Mario, well done!"

The former golden boy did not follow the trajectory of the original time and space to transfer to Bayern, but followed his idol Guardiola to Manchester City. However, like the original time and space, Gotze became increasingly mediocre under Guardiola.

But in the second season, Gotze returned to Klopp's staff. Although his performance cannot be said to be top-notch, he is an indispensable role for Liverpool today.

Sun Wu scratched his chin and watched Gotze and Klopp celebrating ecstatically on the sidelines, wondering whether to change the formation next.

From a certain perspective, Klopp is even more aggressive than Guardiola. When leading 1-0, Klopp will often become polarized, continuing to attack fiercely to expand the lead, or take back a lot to defend. .

Sun Wu decided to take a look first.

But Sun Wu hadn't yet figured out what was going on. Just 20 seconds after the restart, another accident occurred.

Sun Wu passed the ball forward, Matip headed the ball to clear the ball, and Bernardo Silva and N'Zongzi on the outside jumped at the same time...

"Beep!"

A sharp whistle sounded.

Sun Wu, who was relatively far away, could not see clearly, but the referee immediately signaled the team doctor to the Manchester United coaching bench to enter.

"Wow, Silva's head... was cracked and bleeding." Zhan Jun grinned and said, "It should have been an elbow blow, right?"

"Watch the replay... Nzongqi jumped very high and hit Bernardo Silva's head with his right elbow." Zhang Lu sighed: "It rained all night, the ball was lost, and another player was injured. Sun Wu is in big trouble this time!"

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