Chapter 450 Guardiola VS Klopp, a battle between world-class coaches!

The so-called three-center-back system means that when the team is attacking, the full-back or center-back moves up to the midfield to form a three-center-back position.

There are many benefits to doing this:

First, the positioning of the three central defenders causes the team to lack full-backs and reduce the width of the defense line. If the opponent wants to continue to implement high-pressing tactics, they need to use their wingers in advance to press the two central defenders on the side.

With one more player in Manchester City's midfield, it will further force the opponent to invest in manpower in the midfield, forcing their formation to shrink to form a trapezoid.

In this way, Manchester City's two wing passing routes are also available. The full-back can directly hand the ball to the winger, allowing the winger to take the ball and organize the attack.

And thanks to the contraction of the opponent's defensive formation, the wing players have more space to move when dribbling the ball and will not be interfered with or intercepted at the first time. This makes it easier for them to advance with the ball. , the possibility of breaking into the opponent's half or even the thirty-meter area is greatly increased!

Guardiola is indeed a world-class coach. The tactics he came up with can greatly improve Manchester City's offensive strength. However, he himself is still feeling uneasy at this time and is not sure whether this trick will work.

On the other side, in Liverpool's dressing room.

Klopp is encouraging his disciples: "You did very well in the first half, I am proud of you!"

Hearing Klopp's praise, all the Liverpool players raised their chests and were filled with pride.

The stronger the opponent, the more their strength will be reflected.

"But Manchester City is not a weak team, and the Etihad Stadium is not an easy ground to conquer, so I need you to continue to show your full strength in the second half, neither arrogant nor impetuous, fight for every ball, and don't give it to us. I hope we can return to Liverpool with a win in the end.”

After saying this, Klopp's eyes became sharp. After glancing at the Liverpool soldiers in the locker room, he asked loudly:

"Tell me, can you do it?"

"able!"

The Liverpool players shouted at the top of their lungs, vowing to win this victory as a gift to the coach and fans!

"Okay, then go get them!"

Klopp opened the door to the dressing room, waved his hand, and stood at the door high-fiving every Liverpool player who came on the field.

The dressing rooms of the two teams are not far apart, and the Manchester City players next door can clearly hear the noise caused by Liverpool.

However, there was no expression on their faces. They all looked at each other and walked towards the court in silence.

The opponents' morale is high, and a tough battle awaits them in the second half.

This kind of hard battle has not been seen for a long time for Manchester City.

But will Manchester City be afraid?

I’m afraid it won’t be called Manchester City anymore!

With the referee's whistle, the second half of the game officially began.

Manchester City took the lead in making substitutions. Aguero, who was in poor condition, was replaced by Son Heung-min. Lin Quan moved forward and stood at the forward position.

When Klopp saw this, he was shocked: Is it coming?

He had obviously watched the derby between Manchester City and Manchester United, so it was not surprising that Manchester City replaced the forward.

However, if we want to play without a forward, shouldn't we replace the forward and add a defensive midfielder?

But what does Guardiola mean by replacing a winger?

Is it because the score is behind and you don't want to remove an offensive player?

But without the control of the forwards, Liverpool's backcourt players can press forward more boldly, and Manchester City does not send three midfielders. Can they withstand Liverpool's impact?

Klopp couldn't figure out why Guardiola did this for a while, but considering Guardiola's strength, he did not consider that the opponent made a low-level mistake.

Rather, I worry about whether the other party has considered something that I can't see?

If this is really the case, then the situation may be a bit dangerous.

Thinking of this, Klopp cheered up and concentrated on observing the game.

With this observation, you can immediately see the difference.

"Manchester City's formation has changed!"

He saw that when Manchester City was attacking, right back Zabaleta left his position and came to the midfielder position, while the remaining three defenders shrank towards the middle to form a three-center defender formation.

Is this Guardiola's back-up plan?

Without reducing the number of offensive players in the frontcourt, use the full-back premise to ensure that you have sufficient interception capabilities in the midfielder position?

But the problem is, Zabaleta is not a real midfielder?

Is he up to the responsibilities of this position?

Not only Klopp saw this, but Liverpool players also saw the changes in Manchester City's formation.

They didn't pay attention at the beginning, and even wanted to take advantage of the decline in the number of Manchester City's defense lines to further increase their pressing gifts in the frontcourt. Their two wingers directly hit the faces of Manchester City's left and right central defenders. Overall, The formation is very forward.

The advance position of the two wingers forced Liverpool's midfielders to step forward to ensure a reasonable distance between their three lines.

Liverpool's players conscientiously implemented Klopp's request in the locker room. They used active running and fighting to limit the passing and cooperation of Manchester City players.

In this process, the entire Liverpool is like a machine, every part is running at high speed, and no one is lazy.

However, they found that the effect of their high-position pressing in the second half was far worse than that in the first half.

Manchester City increased their offensive intensity in the second half. Their two wings frequently broke into their own half and even created good shooting opportunities.

In the 52nd minute of the second half, Lin Quan successfully broke through from the wing and then cut inside to shoot. The ball hit the crossbar, making the Liverpool players sweat.

It's so close, if this goal is just a little bit worse, their lead will be only one goal!

Although the goal was not scored, it sounded the alarm to Liverpool that there was a problem with their defensive tactics.

But where does the problem occur?

On the sidelines, Klopp also discovered this. He frowned and carefully recalled the entire process from the launch, organization to the end of Manchester City's offensive just now.

"Why didn't our wing players step forward to press Lin Quan the first time he caught the ball?"

A question came to his mind. In this game, he paid great attention to the defense of Manchester City's two wings.

Especially for Manchester City's top scorer Lin Quan, he is even more vigilant.

But he clearly remembered that when Lin Quan received a pass from his teammate, Liverpool's full midfielder did not immediately step forward to interfere and intercept.

What's happening here?

Are the players lazy and not executing their own tactics, or is there something going on on the field that they didn't notice?

Thinking of this, Klopp's eyes widened and he stared closely at the position of the Manchester City players on the court.

In fact, for the head coach, because they are on the same level as the players, it is not so easy to clearly observe the players' positions at once.

If Klopp was standing in the stands at this time, he could clearly see that the defensive position of the Liverpool players had changed unconsciously.

And this change is not the result of Klopp's active adjustment, but the result of passive adjustment.

After Zabaleta's premise, the opponent's midfield now has 4 players. If they continue to follow the pressing method of the first half, they will have to grab more with less. No matter how diligently they run, it will be difficult to make up for the lack of numbers. The gap cannot create enough pressure on the opponent.

Therefore, Liverpool's formation was forced to move inward and retract towards the center.

There is nothing that can be done about it. The players did it spontaneously. Even if Klopp saw it, he would not feel anything unusual, because even if he played, he would do it subconsciously.

But it was this natural thing that revitalized Manchester City's offense.

After Son Heung-min came on the field, he frequently used his speed to dribble the ball from the wing. His ability to cut inside and shoot is limited, so he only needs to use his speed to push the ball into the frontcourt, and then find a way to pass it to Lin Quan. Mission accomplished.

When Son Heung-min dribbles the ball, Lin Quan will also take the initiative to approach the wing to meet him.

Lin Quan's behavior made it impossible for Liverpool's full-back to close in and restrict Son Heung-min. He could only choose to stand in the middle of the two people and cut off the connection between the two people as much as possible.

This kind of position can hardly cause any interference to Son Heung-min. He can dribble the ball very comfortably and complete the pass!

What's even more terrible is that in the process of this attack, Manchester City's resources are tilted very obviously.

At that time, not only Son Heung-min and Lin Quanhui will be active on the wing, but De Bruyne and even Zabaleta will move here to form a local numerical advantage.

Moreover, their positions are quite scattered, not the kind of positions where they are crowded together and lose room for their own people to move around.

This makes it much more difficult for Liverpool to defend on the wing. They are unable to intercept Son Xingmin's dribbling and passing.

And once the ball is handed over to Lin Quan, with Lin Quan's explosiveness and breakthrough ability, their midfielders and defenders will not be able to stop him immediately.

At this point, Liverpool's defense is in danger, and it is only a matter of time before a goal is scored.

Sure enough, shortly after Lin Quan's shot hit the crossbar, Manchester City made a comeback in the 58th minute.

It was Son Heung-min who dribbled the ball wildly from the wing. After he reached the 30-meter area, he did not go directly to the bottom. Instead, he glanced at the direction of his teammates and passed it back to Lin Quan who was following up.

After Lin Quan received the ball, he spiked the ball continuously and changed directions, passing the defensive player and entering the penalty area.

This time he did not rush to shoot. Instead, after the goalkeeper attacked, he made a light shot, picked up a beautiful arc, and sent the ball steadily into the goal.

2:3!

Manchester City chased another goal, and the score difference between the two teams was only the last goal!

On the sidelines, Klopp couldn't sit still.

His eyes widened and he stared at the Manchester City players on the court with a solemn expression.

The person who appeared in his sight was not Lin Quan, but Manchester City's right back Zabaleta!

It was this person's change in position that caused this series of chain reactions.

It turns out that Guardiola's three central defenders' formation has the ultimate trick here!

Klopp did not give in. He immediately waved to the two strikers on the bench to warm up and prepare to play.

Manchester City's tactical offensive ability has indeed improved a lot, but the sacrifice on defense is also visible to the naked eye.

Players such as Coutinho have almost exhausted their physical energy and cannot put more pressure on Manchester City's defense.

In this case, he would give all three substitutions to the forwards and use substitutes with more physical strength to attack Manchester City's defense.

I want to see if Guardiola's formation can hold up!

After making the decision to substitute, Klopp called Coutinho over and asked the players who were about to be replaced to run hard on the field and use various methods to consume the physical energy of Manchester City's defenders.

Anyway, they will be able to take a break soon, so it doesn't matter if they spend more at this time.

Klopp's ruthless determination made Guardiola worried.

Seeing the other party's actions, he had already guessed Klopp's intentions.

Not everyone has the courage to change three people in one go.

He really wasn't sure of being able to withstand the opponent's impact. After all, Manchester City's new tactic was just something he came up with. It was the result of a sudden inspiration and he didn't conduct too many experiments.

According to the words of the media and fans, this is his whole job. Guardiola himself is not very sure whether he can succeed or not!

Klopp was more ruthless than Guardiola imagined. Not only did he replace three offensive players in one breath in the 65th minute, he also made the team's formation further pressurized. During the attack, Liverpool's two sides The defenders all rushed forward.

Their overall formation changed to 2-1-4-3, with the two full-backs completely down, further increasing the team's offensive width and frontcourt pressure.

Affected by this, when Manchester City switches from defense to offense, it is no longer easy to hand the ball to the wide players smoothly. They must wait until Liverpool's full-backs withdraw.

Of course, you can also risk a long pass to find the wing, but in this case it is easy to fall into Liverpool's offside trap.

There is no one in the backcourt of our own side. If we don't cooperate with the offside trap to strengthen the defense, then Liverpool will have the center goal wide open and die.

Ordinary fans may not understand the tactics of the coaches of the two teams.

But they clearly felt that the competition had become more intense and exciting!

"As expected of two of the world's top coaches, Guardiola's three-centre-back positioning has strengthened the team's wing attack, while Klopp's crazy pressing and full-back full-backs have added to the two that Manchester City has just created. The side corridor has been closed!"

“Guardiola’s adjustment can be called a stroke of genius, and I think his offensive system is likely to spread throughout football in the future.

Klopp can clearly see the opponent's intentions so quickly and make timely adjustments. His on-the-spot command ability can be regarded as the best in football. "

In the Sky Sports commentary box, Martin Taylor sincerely praised.

"It can be said that these two are matched against each other and will meet good talents! This is how the Premier League looks good!"