Second half, 48 minutes, 4-0.
Liverpool fans did not expect this score before the game, and Roma did not expect it either.
Gary Neville and Carragher, two English legends who have been broadcasting on behalf of Sky Sports, and guest commentator Henry, almost ignored the process on the field after Chen Xiaoliang scored the fourth goal. They were all discussing why such an unexpected result occurred, and why Liverpool suddenly lost its form and fell to such a low point this year after winning two cup titles and two heavyweight runner-ups last year.
However, after discussing for a long time, the three of them could not come to any conclusion on tactics. After all, none of them were and it would be difficult for them to become tactical masters.
When Henry was coaching Monaco, he almost relegated this team that often reached the Champions League zone in Ligue 1.
In the four months that Gary Neville coached Valencia, he won three games in 16 games and only got 14 points. From then on, he completely realized that he was not cut out to be a coach, and began to focus on investment and media commentary, becoming a famous partner with Carragher, who also enjoyed doing this after retiring.
But even though nothing can be said about tactics, all three were once excellent players, and Henry was even a legend who was once close to the ceiling of football. They all agreed on one point, that is, Liverpool's lineup is too old.
Due to old age and poor performance, his mentality also becomes old-fashioned.
The most active player among the three midfielders was actually the 37-year-old Milner, while Fabinho was basically all defensive and Elliott was basically all offensive, which further exacerbated the imbalance in the midfield.
On the Roma side, with Chen Xiaoliang and Enzo running in a large area one after the other, the 34-year-old Matic only needed to act as a barrier in front of the penalty area and act as a metronome when passing the ball from the backcourt. The two young men completely covered up his weaknesses of being old and slow.
It is conceivable that if Matic were allowed to run back and forth in the midfield and cover everywhere like Milner, Roma's midfield would also collapse.
Apart from these three, the other regular main players are Salah 30 years old, Firmino 31 years old, Henderson 32 years old, Thiago 31 years old, Van Dijk 31 years old, Matip 31 years old, and Alisson 30 years old.
An important part of Klopp's fame is his counterattack after high-pressure defense.
Unlike Mourinho who relies on a large retreat to attract the opponent's forward pressure, thereby gaining a large range of deep counterattack space behind the opponent's position and finally advancing behind the opponent to launch a counterattack, Klopp believes in the high-pressure pressing and front-field area marking that Ralf Rangnick, who served as interim coach at Manchester United last season, highly praised and led in the Bundesliga.
Although he is different from Tuchel who was just sacked by Chelsea, the latter has a formal master-disciple relationship with Rangnick, while Klopp's teacher is former Mainz head coach Wolfgang Frank. Klopp has publicly stated that it was Frank who brought the ball-focused defensive tactics to Germany.
What does it mean to focus on the ball in defense? When Frank was explaining this tactic to Klopp, who was still a player, he showed him the coaching videos of the famous coach Sacchi, and of course the video of England coach Roy Hodgson when he was coaching in Switzerland.
Sacchi pioneered zone defense and high-pressure pressing, sublimating the defensive thinking that focused on man-centered defense into zone man-centered defense that focused on the ball.
As mentioned before, this idea has completely changed the development of modern football.
Although Sacchi, who won the Champions League twice, may not have achieved as good results as some other coaches, this coach who truly changed the development of football is a truly great figure.
This is also the reason why in 2013, France Football, the media that selects the Ballon d'Or, ranked him first among the 100 greatest football coaches of all time.
Following him are Sir Alex Ferguson and the legendary Brazilian coach Santana, who was Guardiola's role model and is known as the father of artistic football.
Behind them are Michels, the father of total football, who was named the greatest coach of the 20th century by UEFA in 1999, and his disciple Cruyff.
Even in the rankings of other authoritative magazines such as "442" and "90 Minutes" that give higher weight to the number of championships, although Sir Alex Ferguson is ranked first, these coaches are still behind him.
Their pioneering efforts in football tactical innovation, club management philosophy, youth training and so on are far more dazzling than the championships they left behind. They shine like a beacon to guide their successors to continue to forge ahead in the vast ocean of football.
Klopp's tactics are based on high-pressure defense, which was invented by Sacchi and further developed by Rangnick and others. He launches a counterattack wherever the ball is snatched.
In fact, this is a tactic that Chen Xiaoliang likes very much. Even Gerrard once used Chen Xiaoliang as a "mad dog"-type central midfielder at Glasgow Rangers, pressing high in the frontcourt against the Scottish Premier League's midfield and backcourt players who had relatively less sophisticated footwork.
But if you listen to this style of kick, you will know that it is carried out at the cost of great physical strength and running.
Given Liverpool's current overall age, it is impossible for them to maintain oppressive high-pressure defense for most of the game . This also leads to their offense being organized from the backcourt like tonight, and then slowly passing the ball back and forth in the frontcourt, trying to find an opening.
This kind of possession-based kicking style is actually very difficult, and requires extremely high personal abilities and tactical qualities from the players. Although Guardiola, the best player in today's football world, has led Manchester City to win four Premier League titles in five years, he still cannot replicate the feat of leading the team to the top of the Champions League when he was at Barcelona.
What dishes go with what rice? If you have to make shark fin with 10 yuan of ingredients, you can only buy vermicelli to pretend it is shark fin.
In the Premier League, Liverpool has to play in the League Cup before the winter window, the FA Cup after the winter window, and the Champions League. It is obviously unreasonable to expect such a lineup to cope with the three-line battle for an entire season.
As for Roma, Matic is 34 years old, Wijnaldum is 30 years old, Cristante is 27 years old, Pellegrini is 26 years old, Enzo is 21 years old, Volpato is 19 years old, Chen Xiaoliang is 18 years old, and even 29-year-old Dybala can also play as an attacking midfielder.
The reasonable age structure brings about obvious complementarity. Young people have the vitality to make up for experience, and veterans use experience to match vitality.
However, the two partners had obvious differences in the final conclusion.
Carragher firmly believes that Klopp's experience and ability will help Liverpool to come out on top. In addition, there is a month's rest after the World Cup and reinforcements can be made in the winter window. Liverpool, currently ranked 8th in the league, is not too far behind in the first half of the season and can definitely challenge for the top 3 in the second half of the season.
Gary Neville believes that Liverpool's lineup, not only the midfield but also the defense line has big problems. There were no adjustments in the summer window this season and there is no chance of improvement later. It is very likely that the situation will get out of control and sink out of the top 10 in the league.
However, he also feels that as long as the board trusts Klopp and gives him the necessary support, Liverpool will make a comeback next season.
They both asked Henry whose opinion he agreed with more.
Henry shook his head and grinned, then said: "Arsenal are the champions!"
The three people's jokes and interjections made the show's effect clear amid the one-sided commentary of the game.
Klopp seemed unable to help himself and took the initiative to make adjustments, replacing Firmino, who was doing nothing on the left, with the young Luis Dias. Before the latter came on the court, he asked him to intensify his activities on the left and cooperate more with the isolated Nunez.
To put it bluntly, Klopp himself knew that there was no hope in this game, so he simply used it to practice the cooperation between the new players.
At the same time, he also replaced Milner, who seemed to be unable to run, with Thiago to strengthen the passing and control in the middle.
Mourinho also made adjustments when he saw Klopp make substitutions.
He replaced Kva, who had an amazing performance in this game, with El Shaarawy, replaced Matic with Pellegrini, and let Chen Xiaoliang move back to play as a defensive midfielder.
It was only 50 minutes, and Kva was puzzled about his ending. However, when he walked to the sidelines, Mourinho stepped forward, hooked his back, praised and encouraged him, and said that he would continue to start in the next league game and asked him to save his strength. This instantly filled Kva with confidence.
But no one else heard the conversation between the two, and Forti was also puzzled. The team was playing well, so why make substitutions? And El Shaarawy had not played in the game for a long time.
Mourinho explained: "The season is long and everyone needs to have the opportunity to play and improve their condition. The situation of this game has been determined and there is no need to kill them all. After losing Cesco, we must protect Kwa."
But after listening to this, Forti felt that his boss's words were a bit insincere.
He turned his head and looked at Klopp who was shouting and directing the players on the other side, and seemed to understand something.
It’s true that they want to protect Kwa…it’s also true that they want to protect Klopp…
If we don't stop in today's game, our performance will surpass the scene where Liverpool scored 36 times against Manchester United and won 3-1. If we sack him after the game, where will the fat meat be for us to grab when we play away against Liverpool?
But if Liverpool still can't defend after making such substitutions, it can't be his fault.
Kill people and destroy their hearts... Kill people and destroy their hearts...
Chen Xiaoliang, who returned to the defensive midfielder position, swapped positions with Enzo. Chen Xiaoliang went to the left half and Enzo went to the right half. Mourinho did this mainly because he wanted to focus on Salah.
On the field, Luis Dias, who was substituted in, was in very good shape, so good that Liverpool fans were secretly cursing in their hearts, wondering why he was not starting.
In the 52nd minute, Luis Diaz advanced on the left, Thiago and Elliott were active in front of the penalty area, attracting Enzo's defense, which gave Liverpool's left winger the opportunity to duel with Celik.
Although Celik's defense is solid, dealing with outbreaks is not his strong point. Luis Dias suddenly cut inside to meet him on the left, and before Enzo could double-team him, he kicked a low arc ball straight to the far post.
The sudden kick forced Patricio to dive for the ball before he was ready, but the inward-spinning ball went just past his outstretched fingertips and into the far corner.
4-1, Liverpool scored a goal that saved some face.
Seeing that their teammates were in good shape, Liverpool's subsequent attacks were all consciously advanced on the left. The appearance of Thiago and the retreat of Chen Xiaoliang, as a result, did strengthen Liverpool's offensive organization in the midfield.
In the 56th minute, Luis Diaz made a comeback and once again faced Celik's frontal defense and suddenly cut inside at the penalty area line.
However, this time Enzo was ready to assist in defense in advance, and Chen Xiaoliang moved slightly to the middle to cover the gap in the middle after Enzo moved to the right.
However, this time Luis Diaz did not shoot. He pushed his right foot forward and the ball rolled between Celik and Enzo. Nunez, who was behind Enzo, made a diagonal cut to catch the straight pass, then turned around and shot towards the goal before Smalling stretched his legs to block it!
This was the first time that Liverpool's new player comfortably shot a goal with his feet in the penalty area in this game!
Patricio dived to save the ball again, but this time the ball's inward spin went around his fingertips.
Oh no! The old goalkeeper was shocked. Could it be that Liverpool was going to score another goal so soon? !
After falling to the ground, he looked back and saw the ball rolling out of the bottom line half a meter away from the far post on the left side behind him.
That was a close call…
Patricio, with a calm expression on his face, and Smalling, who was defending Nunez and was still in shock, looked at each other and were glad that the shot did not go in.
But they didn't expect that this would lead to something out of control.
Nunez seemed to have found his feeling. Compared with Salah who was surrounded on the right, Luis Dias, who was obviously full of energy, was more in sync with him.
So he deliberately avoided the left central defender Gvardiol and left midfielder Chen Xiaoliang, who were obviously more capable and were standing on the right side of the defense, and focused on Smalling's defense zone in the penalty area.
Salah also saw Nunez's intention. As long as his Uruguayan teammate moved to the left, he would run on the right side of the penalty area, preventing Guevadiol and Chen Xiaoliang who were marking him from running away easily to defend Nunez.
Coupled with Thiago's pass, this actually brought Liverpool's frontcourt to life.
In the 61st minute, it was Luis Diaz who made a fake run, pretending to go down the bottom to take away Celik, and Nunez received the pass directly from Thiago on the left side of the penalty area.
Smalling was guarding in front of him on the left, while Enzo was blocking not far in front of him on the right. One was defending against the low-angle left-foot shot from the bottom, and the other was defending against the right-foot shot from the inside, so he was able to take care of both sides.
Unexpectedly, Nunes took a step with his right foot and shot with the inside of his foot, shooting towards the far corner again!
With a height of 187 cm, two long legs, excellent physical fitness and the ability to start suddenly, this sudden shot left Smalling with no time to react.
Patricio dived to the left again, but his fingertips still didn't touch the ball!
The Roma goalkeeper looked back again after falling to the ground and suddenly felt that the world seemed to have entered a loop. The ball followed almost the same trajectory as before and "passed through the goal" half a meter away from the far post.
After he stood up, he saw Smalling looking at him. The two looked at each other again , but this time there was much less shock in their eyes, but more suspicion of not being able to understand the situation - what's going on with this kid?
During the pre-match tactical analysis meeting, the technical analysis team edited Nunez's performance in the Champions League for Benfica last season. He was able to head and foot kick, make close and long shots, and had speed, bounce and confrontation. He was a true all-around center forward and was the world-class transfer that Liverpool bought to counter Manchester City's Haaland.
The coaching staff didn't specifically mention that he has the habit of shooting from far corners...
No, I guess the coaching staff didn’t collect enough samples, so we still have to be careful.
In the next 10 minutes, Roma also attacked twice, but compared to Kvar, El Shaarawy's ability to break out on the left was undoubtedly several levels weaker. Arnold, who was passed by Kvar like Highway 66, suddenly blocked El Shaarawy's attacks several times as if a toll booth had been installed.
There is no harm without comparison. This not only made the fans of both sides know the cause of the problem, but also made the head coaches of other teams and countless scouts who came to watch the game understand that the reason why Kva and Chen Xiaoliang got rid of Arnold twice was not only because Arnold's own defensive ability and defensive attitude had problems, but because these two people showed super personal abilities today.
In Mourinho's 4-2-3-1, it is a typical configuration with one winger going down the flank and the other winger cutting inside. The advantage of this is that the winger going down the flank can pull the opponent's defense back, while the winger cutting inside can tighten the defense towards the middle, and the opponent's defensive layout can be flexibly adjusted in terms of width and depth.
Now that El Shaarawy can't get down to the bottom, it will be difficult for Dybala to create a threat by cutting inside.
However, although the slump in offense allowed Liverpool to boost their attack, it gave Roma's defense more opportunities to perform.
Especially the new loan signing Gvardiol, he clearly had the upper hand in the one-on-one with Elliott and Nunez.
But this also made Smolin suffer...
Carragher specifically mentioned Rome's central axis.
Sesco, Chen Xiaoliang, Enzo, and Gvadiolu, the average age of this central axis is a terrifying 20 years old, but together, they can be called the best central axis combination in Italy.
Now, on both sides of the frontcourt of this central axis, there are double wing assists such as Kva and Dybala. Obviously, Liverpool fans seriously overestimated Liverpool's strength advantage over Roma before the game.
Ten minutes later, Salah attacked again, but he was unable to take advantage of his speed in the positional battle. He first cut inside to get rid of Malaysia's defense, and then when facing Chen Xiaoliang who came horizontally to defend on the penalty area line, he chose to avoid the attack and change direction to go straight into the penalty area, but Gvardiol had predicted it in advance and blocked Salah.
The "Egyptian Pharaoh"'s way was blocked and he delayed for a moment. Then a foot reached out from the left rear and poked the ball .
[Superstar Mission: Block or steal the ball 5 times when Salah is passing the ball]
[Task progress: 2/5]
The ball rolled towards Malaysia, and the Dutch left-back kicked the ball directly towards the front court.
Seeing that their star player Salah was surrounded and had no way out, Liverpool's midfield once again directed the ball to the left where there were more opportunities.
This time it was Luis Diaz who assisted and dribbled the ball diagonally towards the middle of the penalty area. Nunez moved left from the penalty spot, and as soon as he got in place, Luis Diaz passed the ball from near the top of the arc.
Still one-on-one with Smalling, Celik outside the right rear penalty area immediately left Luis Diaz behind and rushed towards Nunez.
If he shot from inside again, he would easily be double-teamed, so this time Nunes chose to go to the bottom.
He swung his right foot and stepped with his left foot, but Smalling was still half a beat slow!
This split second difference was enough for Nunes to dodge half a body length to shoot!
At the left corner of the small penalty area, close to the near corner, Patricio has moved horizontally to block the near post!
Smalling stretched his legs to block the ball, still wondering in his heart, is he going to shoot the ball into the upper corner, hit the post and hit the near corner, or send a low ball through the goalkeeper's small door?
Unexpectedly, a scene occurred that made Smalling confused, Patricio surprised, Klopp speechless, and Liverpool fans in the stands questioning their lives.
Nunez pushed the ball hard with the inside of his left foot, sending it to the far corner!
Patricio's body below the neck did not react at all, only his head and eyes followed the ball.
The ball passed by him, passed in front of the goal, passed the far post, and kept rolling and rolling until it rolled to Malaysia's side.
In order to help the former Portuguese striker, Malaysia did not touch the ball, but let it roll out of the sideline...
Lou Yichen: "Oops! Nunez's kick didn't look like a shot or a pass. In the end, no player from either team touched the ball, and it rolled from the left side of the goal all the way out of the right sideline."
Liu Yue: "From the strength, it should be a shot. He was in the small penalty area. If he passed the ball across the goal line, he would not have used so much force. Besides, there was no other person in the penalty area who could make a run. Salah was still on the right side of the penalty area, far from the goal. Xiaoliang was also defending next to him. There was no space for him to make a run."
Lou Yichen: "If it was a shot, it would be a bit surprising. Luis Diaz, who just came on in the second half, was ordered to take charge of the game. He conscientiously carried out the tactical orders of head coach Klopp. He dribbled and ran on the left several times to open up space for Nunez and then passed the ball."
"Facing the 33-year-old English central defender Chris Smalling, Nunez, who had a clear advantage in speed and explosiveness, chose to shoot at the far corner three times in a row when he successfully shook off the opponent in a one-on-one situation, and each time he shot off target. He even reached out to apologize to his opponent. This was undoubtedly a blow to the team's confidence and his own confidence."
The Liverpool players were walking to the right, waiting for Roma to take a throw-in. At this time, somehow, Luis Diaz and Enzo bumped into each other, tripped each other, and then had a conflict after getting up!
The referee Grande's eyes were originally on the sideline ball. When he heard the commotion and booing from the fans in the stands, he realized something was wrong. He immediately turned around, blew the whistle, and trotted over.
“Beep, beep, beep!”
Players from both sides who were close to each other ran over and tried to separate the two people, and suddenly a group of people gathered together and it was very lively.
Nunes, who was closest to the scene, also ran over. He stretched out his hands and tried to grab Luis Diaz, but he grabbed the wrong side... He grabbed the air around his teammate in such a funny and awkward way...
Barrage:
[What the hell, Klopp spent 100 million to buy a strabismus? 】
[Is there no vision test during the physical examination for joining the team? 】
[It’s over, the diagnosis is confirmed]
[Manchester City's wiggle, Manchester United's compass, Liverpool's squint, 300 million wasted? ]
…