Volume 1: Playing football with me will break your legs Chapter 76: Do you want to compete with me in heading?
“Adebayo…Akinfenwa!”
Above the King's Turf Stadium, the cheers for Akinfenwa had not yet died down when Liverpool striker Lambert kicked off again.
The Red Army soldiers rushed towards the home team's half like a tide, completely suppressing the Blue team in a narrow space of less than 20 meters.
It was not until this time that most people suddenly realized what Liverpool’s second set of tactics was.
"Gerrard's position is further forward, he is equivalent to the second striker!"
BBC host Lineker was a little bit unbelievable, but as a legendary shooter, he could fully understand the intention of this arrangement.
Carragher nodded repeatedly:
"Coutinho, Markovic, and Manquillo, they tied up a lot of the opponent's defensive strength on the wing, and Steven can get more space and opportunities behind Lambert!"
Neville, of course, had to sing a different tune:
"But he needs to meet two conditions: first, he needs to be able to successfully cross the ball from the wing; second, Gerrard needs to be able to beat the young central defender from Wimbledon!"
Carragher was silent for a moment.
The game had been going on for nearly half an hour and Gerrard had many opportunities to confront Li Polo, but so far he had not been able to break through the defensive area of Mad Gang No. 1.
This was indeed due to the lack of accuracy in the passing of his teammates, but even Gerrard himself had to admit that the performance of this handsome but determined young player in front of him in terms of high balls and ground interceptions was indeed impressive!
As the game progressed, Li Polo developed a little more respect and admiration for Gerrard.
He blocked at least two direct shooting opportunities for the opponent, but did not receive any negative emotions from Gerrard!
Looking at another striker, Lambert, who has not been able to touch the ball in the penalty area since the beginning of the game, has provided Li Polo with more than 20 experience points!
…
In the 35th minute of the game, Liverpool, who had been unable to break through for a long time, finally decided to slow down the pace.
Akinfenwa and Dubis also took the opportunity to take a breath and did not continue to press forward, allowing the opponent to pass the ball back in the midfield and backcourt.
Half a minute later, Liverpool, who had recovered, pressed forward again. Henderson and Manquillo used a simple two-pass to shake off Rigg, and then teamed up to attack Wimbledon's left rib!
Smith immediately followed Manquillo, and Phillips had no choice but to hold off Henderson to prevent them from getting any closer to the penalty area.
But Manquillo made a sudden stop and dribbled the ball, then moved half a body distance away and made a decisive cross!
Li Polo's eyes suddenly widened!
The passing route of the Spanish wing-back was clearly visible to him. It was a half-high ball, and the most suitable place to clear it was... just two meters away from him!
【That's it?】
Li Polo shook his head secretly and prepared to retreat three steps, but before he could act, he saw Lambert rushing towards him!
"???!!!"
Lambert blocked Li Polo's retreat!
Another player lurking behind them took the opportunity to rush out...
Number 8, Gerrard!
The unmarked Red Army captain jumped up almost brushing against Lambert's body and made a fatal header with a diving header!
1:1!
Liverpool equalized the score in the 36th minute!
…
"Beautiful! This ball goes in!"
Zhan Jun immediately cheered for his captain.
Li Yuankui also praised this tactic:
"This cooperation was a bit like the pick-and-roll in basketball. Lambert stopped Li Polo and solved the biggest problem for Gerrard..."
Zhan Jun is also wary of Li Polo's heading ability:
"To be honest, if there hadn't been this pick-and-roll, Gerrard might not have been able to complete the header so comfortably."
…
“…”
Li Polo felt a strong surge of anger hitting his chest.
But as he watched Gerrard bend down to pick up the ball from the goal and celebrate with other Liverpool players and encourage each other, the anger turned into an impulse.
[Are you afraid of me to this extent? ]
[You actually developed a set of tactics specifically to restrict me? 】
[Should I feel honored?]
Phillips came over with a frustrated look on his face:
"Sorry, Polo, I won't leave the defense zone easily again..."
Li Polo waved his hand:
"It's not your fault, Mark."
In the situation just now, Phillips chose to mark Henderson, which was nothing wrong. It was just Rigg's fault for losing his position easily.
But Rigg didn't make the mistake because of his attitude. He really didn't have the ability to fight two people alone!
…
On the sidelines, the two Neils quickly held an emergency meeting and began to discuss the next countermeasures.
But after taking one look at the calm Rogers, the two coaches still felt a little uneasy.
Cox hesitated and said:
"We should... hold on for the next 10 minutes and then adjust our tactics during the halftime break."
Adre pursed his lips and finally had to agree.
Facing a morale-boosted Liverpool, they still didn't dare to make any radical tactical changes. They could only hope that the players on the field could keep their composure and maintain the draw first!
…
After scoring the goal, Gerrard seemed to have found his peak form. Even his legs became lighter. He went in and out of the Wimbledon penalty area like an impatient young man.
Compared to the excited Gerrard, Li Polo was very calm. In just five or six minutes, he resolved the cross from Markovic on the left and Coutinho's through ball from the middle, allowing Werner behind him to continue to sit in front of the goal with peace of mind.
Liverpool's half-court siege was finally completely interrupted in the 43rd minute. Left center back Sakho advanced the ball about ten meters, observed the situation in front of the penalty area, and without saying a word, he made a lob pass!
But perhaps because of his declining physical condition, or perhaps because the grass was too soft, he did not fully exert his strength in this lob pass, and the flight trajectory of the football lacked height, and was easily resolved by Li Polo. Wimbledon immediately got the opportunity to counterattack!
Li Polo had a clear view of his teammates' positions while landing:
The two wingers retreated very deep, and neither Francon nor Rigg could return to their proper positions in a short time. The only ones who could participate in this counterattack were the two forwards and Bulman roaming in the midfield!
No, there was another midfielder, Alfie Potter.
Li Polo passed the ball to Porter's feet without any hesitation. The brain of the Crazy Gang midfielder relied on Lucas Leiva to complete the turn and sent a long pass in the process!
Although Wimbledon often used midfield passes to tear open the opponent's defense in the English League Two, they consciously put away their passing and control tactics when facing the Premier League giants. In this game, their attacks were almost all forward kicks!
In this kind of competition where the strengths are clearly divided , if you still want to show off your skills, what's the difference between that and seeking death?
"Do you really want me to chase you?"
Dubis took a deep breath and chased after his teammate's pass!
As Sakho had not retreated yet, another central defender Skrtel decisively left Akinfenwa behind and competed with Dubis in speed. As for Akinfenwa, the ball could only be handed over to Emre Can on the other side.
After all, they had already played for 43 minutes, and both players had used up more than half of their energy. Their sprinting speed had obviously dropped a lot compared to when the game just started. Although Skrtel failed to grab the ball, he firmly blocked the inside line. Dubis, who was unable to cut inside, could only be forced by him to move away from the center step by step...
"You won't stand a chance against the goal, bro!"
The iron-blooded Slovak defender was even in the mood to sneer at his opponents.
However, he heard the reminder from his teammate Sakho:
"Watch out!"
【What should I be careful about? 】
Scottel turned his head slightly in confusion, but saw from the corner of his eye a blue afterimage moving forward at high speed from the middle road!
[Hey, isn't Akinfenwa a fat guy? ]
[How could he be so fast?! ]
If Akinfenwa, who was holding Emre Can's arm at this moment, heard his inner voice, he would definitely want to punch his bald head to pieces!
Do you discriminate against fat people?
Before Skrtel could see clearly who it was, and why he could sprint at such a high speed in the 43rd minute, he felt Dubis in front of him twisting his body hard and then sending a cross!
“Whoosh!”
Li Polo still did not slow down his pace.
Sakho still did not return to the defense line. Skrtel was led to the right by Dubis, while Zhan was restrained by Akinfenwa. Lucas, Henderson, Gerrard... they were all left behind by him without exception.
At this moment, no Liverpool player can interfere with his steps!
He saw Dubis' cross fly into the penalty area from the right .
The distance seems a bit far...
But he still leaped up, and his whole body drew a huge arc above the penalty area like a carp leaping over the dragon gate!
Mignolet gave up the goal line and punched the flying football with all his strength!
“Bang!”
His fists hit something solidly, but the black and white circular shadow brushed past his arm and flew into the goal!
2:1!
Wimbledon takes the lead again!
[Negative emotions from Mignolet, +5! ]
With a dull thud, Li Polo fell heavily to the ground.
He didn't have time to check the experience provided by the goalkeeper, nor could he celebrate the goal because he couldn't get up!
The huge inertia caused by the high-speed sprint, coupled with the full-strength punch from the Red Army goalkeeper, has made him almost unconscious and close to shock!
[Negative emotions from Li Polo, +10! ]
