Chapter 63 Boss, I want to play
"Beep~"
With the referee's long whistle, the fourth round of the 2016-2017 FA Cup officially began. Although Wolves are currently ranked in the middle and lower reaches of the English Championship, they quickly organized an offensive as they had a kick-off advantage as a guest.
Midfielder Savile made a long pass to the right, and left back Moreno made a fatal error in his prediction. In order to make up for his mistake, he chose to foul behind him. The referee on duty decisively blew his whistle and awarded a penalty to the visiting team Wolves. Free kick from the right side of the frontcourt.
"wuwuwuwu——"
The Liverpool fans in the KOP stands made huge boos and sent them to the visiting team players.
Costa took a free kick from the right, and the football accurately found the central defender Stillman ambushing in the middle, allowing him to leap high and beat the young Gomez and Klavan to complete the header.
Goalkeeper Mignolet failed to react in time and the ball hit the net.
No one expected that the visiting Wolves would turn the tables and open the scoring!
The high-spirited Liverpool fans felt as if they had been slapped in the head. They froze on the spot, looking at the Wolves players celebrating the goal and shaking their heads bitterly.
The team has only won one rematch since entering 2017, and the other games either lost or drew. Could it be that...will this game be like the past few games where they lost points?
The on-site director gave Liverpool coach Klopp a close-up shot of his face. Klopp appeared on the screen with his hands behind his back, his brows furrowed, and his expression extremely solemn.
Although the top management held a press conference two days ago to declare their unconditional trust in Klopp, once Liverpool loses consecutive home games, the outcome left for Klopp is 100% dismissal.
Liverpool, who had a kick-off advantage, played very impatiently. Facing the Wolves who were retreating in the half, they took long-range shots to break the dense defense. However, the Wolves, who were leading the score, played very smartly. There were defensive players standing in front of the penalty area, and the football was blocked by the Wolves. The team's defensive player blocked the baseline.
Facing the Wolves in a bus formation, Klopp, who is good at high pressure and defensive counterattacks, really has nothing to do.
Li Qing, who was sitting on the bench, also had a heavy look on his face. Except for Wijnaldum and Firmino who are the main players, Liverpool's starting players are all substitutes and players promoted from the youth team. Their overall strength is compared to the Wolves who have all the main players. The team is not much stronger, so if you want to force a goal, the difficulty level is not high.
Liverpool, sitting at home, had the ball possession advantage but no actual threat, and the game gradually entered a stalemate.
In the blink of an eye, half an hour into the game, Liverpool still failed to equalize the score. On the contrary, Wolves counterattacked vigorously.
The ball possession ratio given by the broadcaster was as high as 80% for Liverpool, but it was inconsistent.
In the 41st minute, captain Lucas made a mistake in making a clearance. Costa, who accidentally got the ball in the middle, sent a wonderful pass. The football rolled close to the ground towards the left rib of the attacker. Forward Weiman, who intervened in time, took advantage of the situation and passed the attacking goalkeeper. Mignolet then hit an empty goal.
The score changed from 1:0 to 2:0.
Klopp's face was filled with gloom when he appeared on the broadcast screen.
During the slow-motion replay, Klopp made an angry body movement when the team lost the ball, and said something. He was obviously dissatisfied with the team losing the ball.
The home atmosphere at Anfield Stadium was reduced to the lowest level. Even the die-hard fans in the KOP stands gave up making noises and allowed the visiting Wolves fans to celebrate loudly.
The new Wolves boss Guo Xing who was presented to the scene was ecstatic, in sharp contrast to Liverpool boss John Henry.
Even though Liverpool, which was trailing by two goals, stepped up its offensive at the end of the first half and even central defender Klavan entered the penalty area to serve as center forward, there was little time left and they were unable to narrow the score until the end of the first half.
All the Liverpool players walking towards the tunnel were listless, as if they had lost their souls.
Li Qing sighed. The team had no choice but to not send him to play in this situation. They had to get up and enter the court to warm up and prepare for the second half.
Whether he can play or not is not something he hopes to do. It depends on head coach Klopp's idea.
Most of the Liverpool fans in the audience were listless, and some even disappointed fans chose to leave early to express their dissatisfaction with their team's performance.
More than half of the fifteen-minute intermission passed in the blink of an eye, and the die-hard Liverpool fans in the KOP stands regained their due color. The classic team anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" sounded again in the die-hard fans' stands.
When-you-walk-through-the-storm
Hold-your-head-up-high
And-dont-be-afraid-of-the-dark
…
Walk-on,walk-on,with-hope-in-your-heart
When the song reached this point, the entire Liverpool fans in the stadium were singing hysterically.
And-youll-never-walk-alone
Youll-never-walk-alone…
Li Qing, who was still warming up, listened to the singing from all directions. He felt that the blood in his body was flowing rapidly at this moment, and he felt like it was about to spurt out.
He had a strong feeling that if he could come on as a substitute in the second half, he would definitely score a goal!
Liverpool, which fell behind by two goals in the first half, made a substitution adjustment before the start of the second half, but it was not Li Qing who was replaced, but Coutinho, who replaced defender Randle.
Klopp's adjustment intention is very obvious, which is to strengthen the offensive creativity in the frontcourt. However, the Wolves made targeted arrangements during the halftime break. Liverpool's offense was unable to reach the core area and still failed to score.
Fifteen minutes passed in the second half, and Liverpool still failed to narrow the gap. Klopp once again made personnel adjustments. He replaced the young Stewart with the experienced veteran Milner.
However, the effect is still not good.
After two substitutions and adjustments, the home team's offense still showed little improvement. Li Qing knew that he might not be able to play in this game. Unwilling to do so, he couldn't help but stand up and walked to the home team coach's command area with his brows on his face. Next to the locked Klopp, he covered his mouth and said: "Boss, I want to play."
