"Lucas and Carlos Babel are not the kind of players who are good at and like to defend. Lucas obviously wants to score today and his desire to attack is very strong. I believe that Carlos' goal will stimulate the Brazilian," Li Ang said. His words made Banderas and Mihajlovic laugh knowingly.
"I think Benítez will not make any changes for the time being after the start of the second half because their current lineup is inclined to attack. Babel will continue to stay on the field. Their task is to attack, attack, and attack again. Pay attention to Liverpool's lineup. Is there a real defensive player? "
Banderas and Mihajlovic thought about it and their eyes lit up. If Li Ang did not mention it, they would not have noticed that Gerrard and Harvey Alonso were both able to attack and defend. This created an illusion that Liverpool's midfield defensive ability was at least not bad. But now, after Li Ang's analysis, in a situation where Liverpool had to strengthen their offense, the combination of Gerrard, Alonso, and Lucas seemed good, but the real defensive effect was not necessarily good.
Alonso, Gerrard, and Mascherano formed a "dragon and horse" iron triangle and was considered to be one of the strongest midfield combinations in Europe. Liverpool proudly claimed that they had the strongest midfield in Europe, but this combination had a fatal flaw, and that was the important role of the seemingly inconspicuous, dirty and tiring Mascherano!
Mascherano was suspended. Now, Liverpool's players on the field did not have a real defensive midfielder. Alonso had to put more energy into the organization of the team and Gerrard had to participate more in the offense. Babel, on the other hand, did not contribute to the defense at all.
*****
"If I were Benítez, I would let Lucas focus on defense!" Banderas said. His task was to fill in the gaps and raise questions for Li Ang's reference.
"Well, let's not talk about whether Lucas can focus on defense." Li Ang shrugged. "But how can he defend against Modric, Arshavin, Mata, and Milito's successive attacks? In fact, our two goals in the first half of the game are very telling. After our continuous passes, Liverpool's defensive line can't do anything. "
Banderas and Mihajlovic both nodded. This was indeed the case.
Later, Li Ang gathered the players for a lecture.
He first praised Arshavin, not only because Arshavin's goal helped Inter Milan to open the scoring. In fact, Inter Milan's best player in the entire first half of the game was Arshavin. In the process of Inter Milan's second goal, if it were not for Reina's excellent performance, Arshavin's first shot would have been able to score.
Of course, Arshavin's excellent performance was due to the help of his teammates. Mata, Agüero, Diego Milito, and other players frequently interspersed and passed the ball. After attracting the attention of Liverpool's defensive line, Arshavin quietly left the line of sight of the Liverpool defenders. No one noticed him. Perhaps because he had been playing in the Russian domestic league, the Russian national player was not very famous in Continental Europe. Compared to the other Inter Milan players such as Mata, Modric, Diego Milito, and Agüero, Arshavin, who was not very famous, really lacked a sense of presence in the hearts of the Liverpool defenders.
However, it was believed that after the excellent performance in the first half of the game, Benítez must have seen the important role of Arshavin in Li Ang's offensive tactics. The second half of the game was bound to pay special attention to the defense of Arshavin.
*****
"Andre! In the second half, it's time for you to cover for your teammates, "Li Ang said to Arshavin.
There was a burst of laughter in the locker room. Arshavin also smiled and nodded. "No problem!"
Li Ang's tactical change in the second half of the game was very simple. It was exactly the same as the tactics in the first half of the game: Li Ang's tactics were to use Arshavin, who made Liverpool suffer in the first half, to attract the attention of the Liverpool defenders and cover for the others. Mata, Modric, and Diego Milito, the three attacking players at this time were the real killer moves.
Li Ang's tactics were to let one person cover for the others. Once there was an opportunity, Inter Milan would even be in a situation where they had more players on the offensive side, forming a thunderous blow to Liverpool.
"What if Liverpool strengthens their marking on Mata and the others?" Mihajlović raised his hand to ask. He had already received his coaching certificate and was eager to coach a team alone one day. Therefore, he cherished the opportunity to learn in front of a world-class manager like Li Ang. Li Ang also did not hide anything from Mihajlović. This was a reward for Mihajlović. Previously, when Li Ang first coached Inter Milan, Mihajlović was taken down and it was difficult for him to get a chance to play. However, old Mihajlović had never complained and was very cooperative. Later, he took the initiative to retire early and joined Li Ang's coaching staff. After that, he worked diligently.
"Then we'll go back to the tactics of the first half of the game." Li Ang shrugged.
Mihajlović was stunned. Wasn't that the case? He suddenly realized and gave Li Ang a thumbs up in admiration. He was indeed a world-class manager! Really amazing!
The players also laughed happily. Li Ang was the soul and backbone of Inter Milan. Seeing the manager so confident and strategizing, their hearts were very calm.
*****
At the same time, in Liverpool's locker room.
"We have to attack in the second half. In this game, our most basic requirement at home is to win!"
"The score difference of 0: 2 is not insurmountable! They have one less player than us! In such an intense game, they have one less player than us in an hour. This is a huge physical exhaustion and will definitely have a major impact on Inter Milan! "Benítez said.
The Liverpool players nodded in agreement.
"While attacking, we also have to do a good job of defending. Therefore, we have to make adjustments in the second half of the game. We need players to provide more defensive protection in the midfield and take on more defensive tasks!"
Lucas Leiva suddenly felt everyone's gaze on him. Gerrard and Alonso had to participate more in the offense and could not spend more energy on defense. Therefore, only he could take on Mascherano's job on the field — to protect Alonso and Gerrard.
Sure enough, Benítez then gave the order for Lucas to focus on defense in the second half of the game.
Although he still wanted to participate in the offense, the manager had already given the order. Lucas could only reluctantly accept the task: he would face Inter Milan's attack group alone in the second half of the game.
Inexplicably, Lucas felt a little nervous …
PS: The fourth update, "The Thinker in the Clouds," will be greatly rewarded. There's still one more chapter to go. Working hard to write.
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