Chapter 369: Targeting is useless
"Tianchao TV, Tianchao TV, the match we are broadcasting now is the live broadcast of the FA Cup final between Manchester United and Liverpool in the 2017-2018 season. They are wearing red jerseys and white shorts. They are attacking from the left side of the broadcast screen to the right side. Liverpool, who were drawn away, are wearing white jerseys and black shorts..."
Accompanied by the whistle of the referee Oliver, the commentator of Tianchao Channel 5, He Wei, subconsciously said the iconic opening remarks.
Manchester United, who had the advantage of kicking off, directly kicked the ball to the front court through the backcourt player Phil Jones. Lukaku, who came to the left side of the attack, overpowered Arnold and headed the ball to Sanchez who was waiting.
Seeing that Liverpool's defensive players were ready, Sanchez guided the ball back without a good passing angle, making reasonable use of the width of the court and involving Liverpool's defensive position.
Seeing that the game was rather dull, the commentator Zhan Jun of Juli TV changed the subject: "Manchester United's official formation is 433, goalkeeper De Gea, defenders Ashley Young, Smalling, Phil Jones and Valencia, midfielders Herrera, Matic and Pogba, forwards Rashford, Lukaku and Sanchez."
"Liverpool's official formation is also 433, goalkeeper Mignolet, defenders Robertson, Van Dijk, Matip and Arnold, midfielders Henderson, Wijnaldum and Li Qing, forwards Mane, Firmino and Salah."
"Klopp sent out the strongest lineup, and the Red Devils Manchester United finished the 2017-2018 Premier League final. Ranked third, the record against Liverpool in the past two seasons is relatively poor, either draw or loss. "Liverpool's top scorer Li Qing contributed 4 goals and 2 assists in the two Manchester United games this season, helping the team to beat Manchester United both home and away. Last season, the two teams played against each other three times, two draws and one loss, but Li Qing did not participate in the two draws. The most impressive thing was the FA Cup quarter-final last season, where Manchester United was eliminated 4:1 at La Trafford with two goals from Li Qing..." Time passed by second by second, and ten minutes passed in a blink of an eye. Mourinho's targeted tactics were perfect. Even if Liverpool's ball possession ratio once reached 70%, there was no way to create scoring opportunities. Obviously, he learned a lesson and did not lose the ball again at the beginning of the game. The on-site director just gave the broadcast screen to Mourinho. He Wei, the commentator of Tianchao Channel 5, smiled and said: "Mourinho is very nervous. Liverpool has won the league championship and the League Cup, and has also advanced to the final of the Champions League. The momentum is high. In comparison, Manchester United's players are a little lacking, but Mourinho has trained Manchester United well. Maybe this game will bring us surprises."
The emotions of Liverpool fans at the new Wembley Stadium are obviously stronger than those of Manchester United fans. The loud cheers they made resounded throughout the stadium. Not long after, the classic team song "You'll Never Walk Alone" spread from the north stand to all the stands where Liverpool fans were.
Because this song is catchy and lyrical, those neutral fans are easily influenced and hum this classic football song with Liverpool fans.
Pogba, the Manchester United player in control of the ball, felt the fanatical atmosphere coming towards him, raised his eyebrows, and moved quickly in the face of Milner's steal. He pushed the ball to the right front with the outside of his right foot, accelerated and flashed past, and without waiting for Henderson to get forward, he shot directly from 30 meters away from the goal.
Mourinho, who was standing in the command area of the home team coach, had a clear frown, obviously dissatisfied with Pogba's reckless choice of long shot, but to be honest, Pogba's long shot was of good quality, but the angle was relatively straight, and Mignolet easily held it in his arms.
Liverpool switched from defense to offense, and Manchester United players retreated to their own half. Mignolet saw that there was no chance to kick a long pass, so he had to choose to stabilize the rhythm and then hand the ball to central defender Van Dijk, who took the ball forward to organize.
Li Qing is now the core of Liverpool's midfield. He is in a relatively backward position, so he is facing Pogba, who is the front midfielder of Manchester United.
The two players have similar shoulders and body shapes, except that Pogba, who is over 1.9 meters tall, is slightly taller. Liverpool players mainly use ground transmission, so Pogba's height advantage does not play a big role.
The ball slowly came from Liverpool's defensive half to the center circle. Van Dijk, who was pressed by Lukaku, passed the ball directly to Wijnaldum. The latter has a strong ability to read the game. With his back to the attack direction, he used his right heel to knock the ball back hard. Rashford, who was defending, was caught off guard. The ball rolled along the ground to Li Qing who ran to the outside of Manchester United's center circle to meet it.
Pogba reacted very quickly and immediately stuck to it, trying to complete the front defense before Li Qing.
The idea is good, but it is a bit difficult to implement.
Li Qing stepped forward with his left foot, stuck his butt back, squeezed Pogba who tried to steal the ball, and let the ball pass.
"aoaooaoaoooooooo——"
The Liverpool fans at the new Wembley Stadium subconsciously burst into a huge and violent shout like a tsunami.
Li Qing exerted force with his left foot, twisted his knees and turned to face the attack direction.
Pogba was pushed away by Li Qing when he was caught off guard. He wanted to foul but found that he couldn't reach him. Mourinho, who was standing in the home team's coaching seat, shook his hands very dissatisfiedly, obviously dissatisfied with Pogba's defense.
If Matic had been in the defense just now, he would not have made such a low-level mistake. He would definitely get close to the opponent first and would not have gone around to defend without full confidence.
Going around can certainly bring unexpected benefits to the team's offense, but the question is whether it is 100% safe.
If not, then defend honestly.
Li Qing turned around and caught up with the football. Facing the defensive Matic, he did not choose to break through. It was not because he was worried that he would not be able to form an effective breakthrough, but because he had a wide field of vision and saw a better offensive line.
The football rose from the ground and flew diagonally from the center of the attack about 45 meters away from the goal to the right side of the attack.
Salah's adduction attracted the attention of Ashley Young and Sanchez, giving Alexander-Arnold a huge space to move forward.
Arnold is not particularly fast, but his timing of forward penetration is very good, which happens to be in the same rhythm as Li Qing's diagonal pass.
The on-site director switched the camera and saw Arnold taking a look at the running situation of his teammates following him in the middle. He had an idea in his mind, stopped the ball forward with his right foot, and without making too many adjustments, vigorously passed the ball to the middle.
The ball bypassed Smalling at the forward point. When goalkeeper De Gea saw that the ball was fast and urgent and far away from the goal, he chose to stand in front of the goal in a flash.
Phil Jones in the middle was half a beat too slow to stretch his foot to reach the ball as he ran back, but Firmino, who was farther away, was in the same rhythm as the football that was running close to the ground and was a perfect match.
Firmino, who was running, stopped the football forward with his left foot, and De Gea gave up the goal.
Firmino stepped forward with his right foot as a support, and hit the middle of the football with the instep of his left foot. The football was close to the ground and quickly drilled towards De Gea. The latter was slightly slower than half a second in retracting his legs, which was precisely the half-second difference. Seconds later, De Gea could only declare that he was beyond his reach...
