Chapter 715 The Brain Is Not Enough
It's been half a year since joining Liverpool, but sometimes Gareth Barry still feels like a dream.
For example now.
March 1, 2009, at 3:00 p.m. at Wembley Stadium, London.
League Cup final!
This is the first final of Gareth Barry's career. Although it is only the League Cup final, it is still the most important game of his career so far. Barry.
The League Cup is tasteless, but it is relative to the giants. For Gareth Barry, who has played for Aston Villa for a long time in his career, the League Cup is not tasteless, but a respected honor .
And what makes Gareth Barry more fortunate is that he won the starting qualification.
...
A week ago, the team beat Real Madrid 4-0 away. Gareth Barry started playing as a left midfielder and performed very solidly.
Three days ago, the team beat Middlesbrough 2-0 away, Gareth Barry was rotated by the manager and did not get any chance to play, and the purpose is to make him start tonight's Carabao Cup final .
Also hidden are Yang Yang, the core player who broke Real Madrid, and Mascherano in the midfield.
Returning from injury, Gerrard and Xavi Alonso, with the help of Lucas Rewa, directed a 2-0 away win over Middlesbrough, with both players sitting on the bench seat.
Facing Manchester United, Liverpool coach Benitez changed his formation and adopted a four-four-two formation. Yang Yang and Crouch, who had returned from injury, were paired with two forwards, and Gareth Bell played with Benayoun on both wings. Reis Barry and Mascherano partner with a double midfielder.
The coach's game strategy is very obvious, that is, to fight Manchester United to the end.
...
Ferguson is also not idle.
Manchester United is currently a lot behind Liverpool in the Premier League standings. As time enters March, the possibility of Manchester United's reversal is getting smaller and smaller, and the time left for Manchester United is getting shorter and shorter, so Ferguson attaches great importance to the cup competition.
The godfather of the Red Devils is very clear that Manchester United must first keep the cup and avoid empty-handed after the end of the season.
Therefore, in the middle of last week, after a 0-0 away draw with Inter Milan, Ferguson returned to the Premier League to rotate, winning 2-0 at home to Portsmouth, and all the main players stayed until the League Cup final.
Rooney, Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Anderson, Vidic, Ferdinand... In this game, Manchester United made the most of their main force, and the goal is also very clear, that is to kill the rotation Liverpool.
...
After joining Liverpool for half a year, Gareth Barry became an important rotation role for the team.
He was basically satisfied with the treatment he received, but he also wanted to go further and prove his strength and value. Therefore, every time he played, he tried his best to show his best state.
Unlike Aston Villa, Liverpool is a giant team with a group of outstanding top stars.
Such as captain Gerrard, vice-captain Carragher, and midfielders like Xavi Alonso and Mascherano, all of them are top stars in the world, even center Crouch and striker Kuyt Very characteristic and advantageous European star.
But what surprised Gareth Barry most was Yang Yang, the team's top star.
All professional players are not unfamiliar with Yang Yang.
Gareth Barry was already familiar with this player when he played for Aston Villa. He even fought against Yang Yang a few times as an opponent, but as a teammate, he really felt why Yang Yang was able to get to where he is today. .
work hard! Work hard! Fight hard! never give up!
Outside media reporters and fans often only see the surface, see Yang Yang present, and show them what they see, but only as a teammate, as the closest comrade-in-arms on the court, Gareth Barry can really feel Yang Yang. 's heart.
He is Melwood's most popular player!
Not only that, for the two sides to play side by side on the court, Gareth Barry also needs to know Yang Yang better than anyone else.
For example, he needs to know how fast Yang Yang's ultimate sprint speed is, he needs to know how to pass a more comfortable ball to Yang Yang, and he also needs to calculate how much advance he can give to best utilize Yang Yang's threat...
Growing up, everyone said that Gareth Barry was a very smart player, good at thinking with his head.
But after arriving in Liverpool, he found that when facing Yang Yang, his brain always seemed to be insufficient.
Just like tonight.
...
After the opening, Manchester United attacked very quickly.
It is Ferguson's forte, and Manchester United's habitual tactic, to rush to attack at the opening.
The Red Devils Manchester United are domineering and awe-inspiring in the Premier League. This is the hegemonic temperament accumulated by ruling the Premier League for a long time. Even if there is some decline in recent years, Manchester United is still Manchester United, and Ferguson is still Ferguson.
Gareth Barry is at the heart of Liverpool's midfield, and as a left-footed player, he appears in the area to the left of the double midfielder.
In the face of the pressing and strangling tactics of Manchester United's midfield, it is difficult for Gareth Barry to create opportunities.
Liverpool's situation was the same as Gareth Barry's, being suppressed by Manchester United at the start.
In the first 17 minutes, Manchester United created six good attacking threats, but Liverpool did not even play a single attack.
Yang Yang and Crouch fell into a situation of isolation in front, and it was difficult to pass the ball.
Ferguson is not Juan de Ramos. The Manchester United coach is the top tactical master in Europe. Facing the same tactical ability of Benitez, Ferguson is not at all disadvantaged in arranging troops.
Of course, although Liverpool missed the opportunity, they also did not let Manchester United's attack get a chance.
The two sides fought very fiercely. Liverpool didn't create a chance until the 18th minute by Benayoun on the right, but Ferdinand made a clearance before Yang Yang.
Nine minutes later, it was another cross from the right from Benayoun. Yang Yang got a chance to kick on the left side of the penalty area, but Ferdinand forcibly suppressed his body and failed to hit the goal. The ball was easily confiscated by goalkeeper Van der Sar. .
Obviously, Ferguson specially arranged for Ferdinand to take care of Yang Yang tonight.
Even if Benitez does not change Yang Yang's position, there is still O'Shea on the right side of Manchester United.
The old Scottish man learned the lessons of Juan de Ramos, for fear of repeating the mistakes of Real Madrid, so he was more cautious in targeted defense.
After the opening, he didn't get a chance for a long time, and then he created two chances in a row, but they were all suppressed by the opponent's central defender. If it was another player, he would be more or less emotional, but Yang Yang seemed to be business as usual.
When he saw him walking back, he did not forget to applaud his teammates from Yaoyao, and shook his head with a wry smile. He looked a little lost, but he didn't have much anxiety or panic.
But when he walked back and came near the center line, he suddenly walked towards Gareth Barry and whispered, "More on the right, pass the ball to the left behind."
Gareth Barry is a little skeptical about this, because Manchester United has deployed a lot of troops on this side, O'Shea and Ferdinand are on this side, but on the right side, Evra likes to attack, so the right side gets the opportunity Rather more.
This is why Liverpool's two attacks were planned by Benayoun on the right.
Although he was a little puzzled, Gareth Barry still nodded and agreed, because he knew that Yang Yang was the number one player in the team and the offensive leader on the court, let alone him, even if Gerrard was present, many Always listen to his advice and attack around him.
...
Soon, the game resumed.
Liverpool still tried to attack from the right, but because of the tacit understanding formed before, this time, after receiving Benayoun's pass from the right, Crouch immediately returned to Mascherano, and then crossed. Passed on to Gareth Barry.
At this time, Gareth Barry was facing the left line of Manchester United's penalty area, stopped the ball, looked up, and found that the situation ahead had changed.
Vidic was pulled away by Crouch, Yang Yang appeared in the middle, Ferdinand and O'Shea sandwiched him left and right, but Yang Yang winked at him, signaling him to pass behind him.
Gareth Barry is not a fool, on the contrary, he is very smart and realizes the problem all at once.
After Manchester United's defense came up, Yang Yang's speed would allow him to get a chance between two players.
Just after a moment of hesitation, Gareth Barry made a through ball with his left foot.
Carrick was about to come up to press, but after all, he was a step too late.
The ball slid over Carrick's side, past O'Shea, and onto the left side of the box.
Yang Yang turned around at the fastest speed and slanted behind O'Shea.
Manchester United's right back responded passively, and as soon as he turned around, Yang Yang was thrown away.
Only Ferdinand, who had been paying attention to Yang Yang, chased Yang Yang all the way, but O'Shea ran to the middle instead, ready to help defend Ferdinand behind him.
At this moment, Gareth Barry suddenly felt a burst of regret, because he hesitated for a while, and the experienced Ferdinand saw the clue. If he believed Yang Yang, he would go straight behind the ball as soon as he received the ball. It was a wonderful one-shot.
But now, Yang Yang was entangled by Ferdinand again.
The strength of England's central defender, Gareth Barry as a teammate of the national team is very clear, and this game Ferdinand put on the captain's armband of Manchester United and was extremely excited.
In the first two one-on-ones, Yang Yang failed to take advantage of Ferdinand, and this time he was entangled again, which is probably not enough.
In the final analysis, if this attack was not effective, it was him who dragged Yang Yang down.
...
Yang Yang didn't think too much in his mind. When he saw Gareth Barry passing the ball, he slanted behind O'Shea for the first time.
Ferdinand reacted very quickly, not too slow, he chased after him, and even secretly pulled Yang Yang's jersey behind him, which caused Yang Yang to take a beat.
But in the end, he had an advantage in position. Yang Yang caught up with the ball one step ahead, and with a slight swipe forward, the ball was controlled by him, and the man rushed into the penalty area.
It's just that Ferdinand has been on his inside, pressing his shoulders with his hands and squeezing him with his body.
As an experienced world-class central defender, the Manchester United captain knows exactly how to limit his opponents.
But Yang Yang is not a fuel-efficient lamp either!