Chapter 449: Epoch-making Changes - Guardiola's Three-Centerback System!

"Cheer up, be alert, and don't let your guard down!"

Klopp frequently shouted at the players on the sidelines to remind them to maintain their fighting spirit and not to be complacent because of a temporary lead.

This Manchester City team is very resilient, and as long as they are given the opportunity, they can really equalize the score.

He has played against Lin Quan and Guardiola in the Bundesliga, so he will never underestimate these two people!

Besides, it's too early now.

There are both advantages and disadvantages for a team to take the lead early. The advantage is that it can greatly improve the players' self-confidence and allow them to relax and deal with the next game.

The downside is that it gives the opponent too much time to make a comeback, and taking a large lead too early will lower the players' vigilance and give them the illusion that they have a sure win.

And once they really have this feeling, their fighting spirit will be affected.

Maybe I won't run and fight as hard as before.

Klopp's tactics are based on players' large-scale running.

If the players don't run, but instead slow down their pace and walk slowly on the court, how can his high-pressing tactics be implemented?

If they really want to engage in a positional war with Manchester City, they will be seeking death. There are no more than three teams in Europe that dare to do so, and Liverpool is obviously not one of them.

Klopp's reminder did not attract the players' attention at first, until Manchester City launched a counterattack under the leadership of Lin Quan.

In the 32nd minute, Kante intercepted the ball and passed it back to Kroos, who moved to the wing to find Lin Quan.

After receiving the ball, Lin Quan passed Liverpool's full-back Moreno and pretended to cut inside and shoot.

Liverpool's central defender Lorenzo and midfielder Lucas were attracted by Lin Quan and moved towards him.

But as soon as they moved, the space next to Manchester City midfielder De Bruyne who was following up from the middle was left empty.

Lin Quan decisively passed the ball to De Bruyne and broke into the penalty area from the flank.

And just as he broke into the penalty area, De Bruyne also sent a straight pass in a tacit understanding.

The ball was passed very penetratingly and passed between Lorenzo and Lucas.

If one of the two players had focused on De Bruyne, he would have had a chance to stop the ball.

It's a pity that they all thought Lin Quan was going to shoot directly and didn't think too much, thus giving De Bruyne the opportunity to make such a fatal pass.

After shaking off the defender and accelerating into the penalty area, Lin Quan comfortably received De Bruyne's pass, then pushed the ball and the ball rolled into the goal from under the goalkeeper's crotch.

Liverpool goalkeeper Mignolet sat down on the ground with a thud, looked back at the ball that had hit his own net, and punched the grass in anger.

For any player, being penetrated in the crotch is a very humiliating thing, especially for goalkeepers. Once they are penetrated in the crotch, it is not only a humiliation, but also a loss of the ball!

But Mignolet had no way out. He was just a goalkeeper, and the opponent had already penetrated his defense line and had a one-on-one chance. Was he going to challenge the strongest striker in the world? He didn't think he had the ability! Boom! The moment Lin Quan pushed the ball into the goal, a huge cheer rang out at the Etihad Stadium. If the first 30 minutes of the game made Manchester City fans look extremely desperate and even stunned, wondering if they had walked into the wrong stadium.

After seeing Lin Quan's goal, they confirmed that the team on the field was indeed the invincible Blue Moon they had always supported! So , under the leadership of some die-hard fans, more than 40,000 Blue Moon fans at the scene began to sing the famous team song in unison - "I Will Never Regret Loyalty to Blue Moon"

Lin Quan wasted no time celebrating. After scoring the goal, he rushed into Liverpool's goal and scooped up the ball. He ran out of the penalty area, high-fived De Bruyne who was also running back halfway, then put the ball in the center circle, ready to kick off again.

Lin Quan's goal not only ignited the atmosphere on the scene, but also ignited the fighting spirit of Manchester City players.

They will not sit idly by and watch Liverpool take the victory so easily at their home ground, let alone take away three points with such an extremely humiliating score!

There is no unbeaten team in football. Manchester City’s unbeaten streak will be broken sooner or later. They can lose, but they cannot lose so miserably.

Seeing that the players' morale was fully raised, Guardiola, who was about to shout at the players and give them some instructions, swallowed his words back.

There is no need to shout anymore, Lin Quan has successfully aroused the fighting spirit of his teammates.

Now all you need to do is seriously execute the tactics you arranged before!

However, Guardiola was not idle either. He began to seriously study the tactics used by Klopp in this game in order to find a way to restrain him.

The game resumed and both sides fought fiercely on the field.

Manchester City's goal also stimulated Liverpool players, letting them know that they should not underestimate their opponents just because they were temporarily leading.

Manchester City is different from the teams they have played against before. They have unparalleled firepower, and the ball just now is proof of that.

Leading by three goals is not safe, let alone leading by two goals! So they returned to the state at the beginning of the game, running and fighting very actively on the field, not letting go of any opportunity, even if they knew that some balls could not be grabbed, their players would rush forward without hesitation.

Even if they cannot steal the ball, they must delay and interfere with Manchester City players' dribbling and passing. If the opponent is too sticky to the ball, the players nearby will rush forward, use multi-person pressing to snatch the ball from the opponent, and then launch a counterattack on the spot.

This tactic of high-pressure defense and on-the-spot counterattack made the game go at a very fast pace.

Both sides had plenty of offensive opportunities, frequently breaking into the 30-meter area and even making shots.

As a result, the game became very exciting and was a feast for the eyes of the fans who came to watch the game.

"This may be the most exciting and most entertaining game in the Premier League so far this season!"

exclaimed Martin Taylor and his own answer Andy Gray in the Sky Sports commentary box.

In the first half of the game, both sides fought very hard, but there were not many fouls.

Manchester City only committed two fouls, and Liverpool only committed five. As for the yellow card, there was only one, which was given to Liverpool midfielder Lucas for tackling Lin Quan who was dribbling the ball.

"Haha, the reason why this game is so interesting is probably because the two teams are playing a match between the Bundesliga and La Liga at the pace of the Premier League, right?"

Andy Gray's words were recognized by many fans. Klopp's tactics are very similar to the tactics he used in Dortmund before.

Guardiola's Manchester City also adopted a passing and controlling tactic very similar to the one he used when he was at Barcelona.

Of course, in order to adapt to the pace of Premier League games and the development trend of football, both of them have made some upgrades and changes to their past tactical systems.

This kind of game, which has both the local style of the Premier League and the impact of the Bundesliga and the technical flow of La Liga, is of course exciting to watch.

"Andy, which team do you think will win?"

While the score had not changed for the time being, Martin Taylor asked his partner a question, which he believed was also a question that many fans and viewers in front of the TV were also concerned about.

"It's hard to say. Liverpool still has a two-goal lead, but their opponent is Manchester City after all, which is Lin's team. What's more, they are the champions of the Premier League and the Champions League in the past two years. Their ceiling is obviously higher and their overall strength is stronger. If it weren't for the fatal own goal at the beginning, I'm actually more optimistic about Manchester City!"

Ever since he made the wrong judgment back then, Andy Gray has long since turned over a new leaf and has now become Lin Quan's number one fan.

Every time he comments on Manchester City's game, he will transform into a Lin fan and praise it as much as possible.

Hearing his partner's words, Martin Taylor smiled and said:

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"Yes, I think many fans were like you before the game and were more optimistic about Manchester City, but Klopp and his disciples told us that football is round. No matter how strong the team is on paper or how many honors they have won in the past, it will not work on the field!"

"Yeah, that's the beauty of football, isn't it?"

Andy Gray nodded in agreement: "But I want to say, never underestimate the heart of a champion. Manchester City is no longer an ordinary team that Ferguson once called a noisy neighbor. They are the top team in today's football world and a real giant!"

Liverpool fans scoffed at Andy Gray's words. Manchester City has a heart for a championship, but Liverpool doesn't? In terms of foundation, who in the entire Premier League dares to talk about foundation in front of Liverpool? (Aston Villa, sit down first) After 25 years without a championship, Liverpool people's desire for the league championship is unimaginable to ordinary people.

So, in terms of fighting spirit and desire for victory, Liverpool will never lose to anyone.

Since they won't lose in terms of fighting spirit, let's see who wins on the field! In the final stages of the first half, both sides had chances to change the score, but both missed them.

In the 38th minute, the Reds successfully counterattacked on the spot. Coutinho made a wonderful pass, but Liverpool winger Sterling missed the goal, allowing Manchester City to escape a disaster.

Two minutes later, Aguero's shot from a small angle in the penalty area hit the post and bounced out of the bottom line, making Liverpool fans break out in a cold sweat.

If these two goals had been scored, it would have had a huge impact on the game situation.

If Sterling had not missed the one-on-one opportunity, the score would probably have become 1:4. No matter how strong Manchester City is, it would be hellish to score three goals against Liverpool.

If Aguero had not missed the opportunity, the score would be 2:3. The result of catching up with two goals in a row and being only one goal behind would greatly boost Manchester City's morale and severely damage the morale of Liverpool players.

In that case, when the second half starts, Manchester City is very likely to make a concerted effort to equalize or even overtake the score.

But unfortunately, neither team was able to seize such a great opportunity, and the score remained 1:3 until halftime.

During the half-time break, Guardiola did not criticize the player who caused the own goal.

He just quietly explained his tactics to the players: "Liverpool's running is very active, which makes it very difficult for our midfield to operate and it is difficult to pass the ball to the feet of the wingers."

On the tactical board, Guardiola marked the positions of Liverpool's players in the first half of the game as well as their pressing tactics and defensive positions.

Manchester City does not have a center forward, and Aguero is not a traditional center forward with strong standing and attacking abilities, so Manchester City's offensive ability in the middle is actually not strong.

Their strength lies in the flanks. With a world-class winger like Lin Quan, Guardiola will naturally make full use of this.

Manchester City's only goal in the first half was the result of the cooperation between De Bruyne and Lin Quan on the wing.

But it was only successful this once. After this goal, Liverpool players intensified their pressure on several passing points in Manchester City's midfield, making it difficult for them to pass the ball to Lin Quan.

As a result, Lin Quan had to frequently retreat to receive the ball.

But once Lin Quan retreated and wanted to organize an attack again, the opponent's defensive position had already been completed, and the defense line was very solid, and it was not easy to shake or even tear it apart.

What's more, Liverpool also used active running to create a numerical advantage in local areas, so that if Manchester City's attack was delayed for even a second, they would fall into the opponent's multi-player double-teaming and siege. In this way, not only would the attack fail, but they would even likely lose the ball and be counterattacked by the opponent.

Most of the goals lost in football matches are lost during the transition between offense and defense.

If both sides prepare themselves for a head-on fight, even if it is a strong team against a weak team, the weak team can still compete with the strong team by relying on a complete formation and full defense, and make the strong team return empty-handed.

Guardiola led Barcelona to play against Rubin Kazan several times. The strength of this team was not very strong, but their bus parking tactics were very disgusting, leaving Barcelona, ​​which had a lot of military power, helpless. In the end, they even succeeded in stealing the game and lost 1:2, which was a shocking upset.

The same thing happened in the warm-up match between world champion Spain and the Chinese national team a few years ago. The Chinese national team was passive throughout the game and had almost no decent attack. However, relying on the bus parking and the outstanding performance of goalkeeper Zeng Cheng, they made Spain helpless until David Silva scored in the 84th minute of the game.

Therefore, Liverpool's tactics made Manchester City very uncomfortable. When it was their turn to attack, they had to confront their opponents head-on and challenge the opponent's entire defense line.

But when it was the opponent's turn to attack, Manchester City's defense was incomplete most of the time.

If it weren't for Van Dijk's heroic performance in this game, Manchester City might have lost more than three goals.

Klopp really has something. It seems that it is no coincidence that he can bring Dortmund to that level.

Guardiola couldn't think of a good way to crack Klopp's tactics for the time being, so he had to focus on what he was good at.

Since the opponent's aggressive fighting has restricted our midfield, we should abandon the midfield, bypass the transition of the midfield, and let the full-back pass the ball directly to the winger.

However, it is obviously difficult to do this in traditional positions and formations.

Therefore, Guardiola specially arranged a three-center-back position! Guardiola didn't know that his adjustment created a new and epoch-making style of play! (End of this chapter)