Chapter 565 Thank You for Reminding Me!

Aston Villa under Martin O'Neal has always been tough, especially at home.

What impressed Yang Yang the most was last season. When he first came to the Premier League, Aston Villa started with an astonishing nine-round unbeaten record, which left a deep impression on him.

Although it collapsed all the way, Aston Villa finally only ranked 11th in the Premier League, but this team's defensive ability is among the best in the Premier League, and this summer, this team also invested a lot of money. , The introduction of a number of powerful players, the three lines have been further improved.

Faced with such an opponent, Liverpool naturally did not dare to have the slightest carelessness.

Benitez did his best in this game and made his strongest starting lineup.

The goalkeeper is Reina, the back line is Aurelio, Daniel Agger, Carragher and Finnan, the midfield is Mascherano and Xavi Alonso forming a double midfielder, Gerrard goes forward , the front trident is Yang Yang, Crouch and Kuyt.

This is the strongest combination Liverpool can put out at the moment.

Although Yang Yang has only returned to the team for ten days, both his state and his performance in training have been recognized by the coaching staff.

Everyone knows that even during vacation, Yang Yang still insists on training and does not dare to slack off.

And Martin O'Neal is also doing his best to play the main force.

This is also Liverpool's first official game in the UK after winning the Champions League. The Villa Park stadium was full, and all the tickets were already sold out by enthusiastic fans, and even many fans from Liverpool.

After winning the Champions League last season, Liverpool's football market has also become more popular.

...

In the end, it was the premiere of the new season. After the start of the game, both sides were obviously not in their best condition.

Aston Villa, who played at home, was very active, while Liverpool was under the attack of the opponents, and could only retreat to stabilize their position, so the first shot came from Aston Villa's long-range shot, but failed to Create a threat.

Yang Yang ran hard on the court, and he clearly felt that he had not adjusted in place.

Although he played in the Asian Cup before, the Asian Cup is far inferior to the Premier League in terms of the format and the intensity of the game.

Having not experienced the pre-season warm-up match, he is still somewhat unfamiliar with his teammates, and he has not yet fully entered the rhythm and state of the game.

But even so, when the game reached the 17th minute, Crouch's header was ferried and created a very good opportunity for Yang Yang. He started at the fastest speed, inserted into the penalty area, and got ahead of everyone. Catch up with the ball and volley with the left foot, but the ball just misses the goal.

This makes him somewhat depressed, because if it is when he is in good shape, he is very sure of the ball and will not miss it.

The game continues.

With Yang Yang's shot, Liverpool began to control the situation on the field, and the midfield and backcourt also continued to create opportunities.

Then Gerrard and Kuyt took turns to get the opportunity.

Yang Yang also gradually realized the change of Crouch's role on the court, that is, he played more like a tactical center, instead of always looking for opportunities to face the goal as before.

This change has certainly reduced Crouch's threat on the court a lot, but it has also allowed Yang Yang, Kuyt and Gerrard to get more opportunities, especially Yang Yang.

In the 30th minute, Liverpool's midfielder stole the ball and played a quick counterattack. Yang Yang suddenly appeared on the right. After receiving another pass from Crouch, he took advantage of the situation and rushed into the penalty area with his right foot. But once again slide the door through.

Two consecutive missed scoring opportunities, Yang Yang was a little depressed.

Crouch, Kuyt and Gerrard and other teammates have also come to comfort him, so that he does not have to worry too much.

...

"Yang Yang looks a little impatient now, but this is mainly because his physical condition has not been adjusted to the best state, or in other words, he is not in the most favorable state for the game."

"Judging from his several moves, he's still so sharp, so smart, but his body is a little bit out of step with his consciousness."

"To put it simply, his body is not excited enough, which needs the stimulation of the game."

"Sometimes it's like this. It's just a little bit between being excited and not being excited."

"If it is Yang Yang who is in a state of excitement, it is estimated that the score is at least 2-0 by now, but after all, this is the first game of the new season, Yang Yang has just returned to the team from Asia, and he has not experienced pre-season. training and preparations.”

Sky TV's commentator and former star Andy Gray analyzed Yang Yang's current psychological state.

"For his current situation, I think the most important thing he should do is to remain calm and rational. This has always been Yang Yang's advantage. I believe he should be able to handle his emotions well."

...

With the words of Andy Gray just finished, Liverpool on the pitch once again created a chance.

Still still stealing the ball in midfield, Mascherano stifled a counterattack from Aston Villa in the cradle, and quickly passed the ball to Gerrard, who made a straight pass and gave it to Yang Yang .

After Yang Yang caught up with the ball, he walked into the penalty area and shot directly near the penalty spot.

This time he played fast and hastily, and the angle was very good. It should have been a 100% sure, but Aston Villa's goalkeeper Taylor reacted quickly and flew to save the ball.

The ball fell to the right, and Kuyt followed and played directly, hitting the ball directly into Aston Villa's goal.

One to zero!

The Dutch striker picked up a big bargain for no reason!

Yang Yang shook his head helplessly, ran over to celebrate with Kuyt and congratulated his teammates for scoring the first goal of the new season.

No way, his luck is indeed a bit on the back.

All the shots were saved by Taylor. As a result, the Aston Villa goalkeeper threw too hard, leaving an empty goal for Kuyt to hit. What else can Yang Yang say other than bad luck?

...

After scoring a goal, Liverpool are still firmly in control of the situation on the field.

Aston Villa is waiting for an opportunity to fight back.

After changing sides in the second half, Yang Yang shot two high-quality long-range shots in three consecutive minutes.

But these two shots also boosted Liverpool's morale, and then the Red Army controlled the situation on the field all the way and seized this opportunity firmly.

Yang Yang also got a few chances in the next half hour, but unfortunately, they all followed the ball and saved one side.

In the 80th minute, Yang Yang was replaced by Benayoun.

It's not that Benitez is dissatisfied with his performance, it's that he wants to save some energy. There is still a league game in the middle of the week.

...

After Yang Yang came off, Aston Villa suddenly launched a wave of rushing attacks.

First, Gareth Barry made a cross from the left, and Kalu went wide with a header, followed by a left-sided attack from Aston Villa. Carragher was sentenced to death for a handball in the penalty area. level the score.

Two consecutive attacks, in just a few minutes, Aston Villa caught Liverpool's right flank to launch the attack.

Yang Yang also noticed this phenomenon while sitting on the bench.

The Red Army's defense last season was quite solid. The entire back line performed very well. This is the reason why the team was able to win the Champions League in the end. Among them, Finnan on the right performed very stable.

But judging from tonight's game, Aurelio on the left is still good, but Finnan on the right is not reassuring, especially when he faces Aston Villa's speedy winger At the time, it was very difficult, the pressure on defense was very high, and I failed to defend the opponent's attack several times.

Of course, this is just a game, it doesn't explain everything, but it also reveals the fact that Finnan is already 31 years old. Will two Champions Leagues make him feel satisfied and slack because of it?

This is obviously a worthwhile question.

Yang Yang has no prejudice against Finnan, and even he respects this senior very much, but through this game, he did see some oldness or fatigue of Finnan.

...

Two minutes after conceding the ball, Liverpool launched a wave of attack. Gerrard was fouled by the opponent at the front of the penalty area. Liverpool got a good free kick opportunity about 20 meters away from the goal.

The Liverpool captain personally took the penalty and made it very clean.

But what is infuriating is that after scoring the goal, Gerrard did not go to celebrate elsewhere, but ran to the bench, hugged Yang Yang directly, and shouted excitedly, "Thank you. You remind me to work hard on free kicks!"

Yang Yang almost kicked him to death!

I don't know if this counts as adding a block to yourself and indirectly cultivating competitors?

...

Liverpool finally beat Aston Villa 2-1 with a direct free kick from Gerrard, narrowly winning away and scoring a precious three points.

Gerrard's outstanding performance has won unanimous affirmation, but Yang Yang's new season debut has also been recognized by everyone.

Among the fans' ratings on Sky TV after the game, Yang Yang scored 7.8 points, second only to Gerrard who scored the lore goal.

Andy Gray's comment has also been recognized by everyone. The legendary star believes that Yang Yang's performance in this game is close to perfect, only one goal away, and Kuyt's goal should have belonged to Yang Yang.

"Taylor's sudden magical performance ruined Yang Yang's first goal of the new season!"

The Guardian also commented on the players after the game and believed that Yang Yang's performance was excellent and satisfactory.

Benitez also praised Yang Yang by name at the post-match press conference, believing that Yang Yang's performance was quite good.

"I didn't score in the debut. I think it's nothing. He worked very hard and has been adjusting his state. I believe he will show better performance soon. He is already an indispensable core member of the team."

The Times also believes that although Yang Yang did not score, he is still Liverpool's most threatening player at Villa Park. At the same time, it also published an interview with Aston Villa coach Martin O'Neill after the game. After 80 minutes, Ston Villa played the key to threatening counterattacks in a row.

However, Yang Yang failed to score in his new season debut, which was somewhat of a fly in the ointment.

Anyway, Yang Yang thought so.