Chapter 46 The essence of competing for the top 4 is to make fewer mistakes than your opponent while

Chapter 46 The essence of competing for the top 4 is to make fewer mistakes than your opponent while

Chapter 46 The essence of the fight for the top four is to make fewer mistakes than your opponent while also changing your opponent's mentality [Please subscribe! ]

Old Mu once instilled a truth into Li Chen during the changes in various game situations.

Every head coach has his own reasons for arranging targeted tactics before the game.

However, during the game, any on-the-spot adjustments should be made under the premise of ensuring the stability of the team.

When Li Chen first accepted this tactical theory, he always had a preconceived notion that Mu was still emphasizing the importance of defense.

Stability, stability, shouldn’t we start from the defensive end first?
If the defense line is not stable, then there is no need to talk about stability in the midfield and frontcourt.

Later, after witnessing Mourinho reverse the game situation through on-the-spot adjustments time and time again, Li Chen felt that he had a deeper understanding of Mourinho's theory.

Stability does not necessarily have to start from the defensive end, nor is it a synonym for conservatism. Stability in controlling the ball in the midfield and backcourt is also stability.

The frontcourt players' continuous firepower on the offensive end is also a form of stability.

The key is to see in which direction the coach and the team need to invest more energy at a certain point in time.

By controlling this direction, you can make stable on-the-spot decisions.

Li Chen originally thought that this perception would not change much, but in today's game, Klopp's choice made him "suddenly enlightened" once again.

It turns out that the pursuit of stability is not just about the inherent adjustments of tactical details, but also about the firm control of the balance between offense and defense.

The more important significance lies in its calming and soothing effect on the team members.

The emotions of the entire team have calmed down. No longer impetuous or worried, the players can better execute the next instructions of the head coach.

Li Chen is now pursuing the stability of the defense in order to achieve this goal, so that his players can have confidence and not be impetuous.

The same is true for Klopp.

He forced the entire Liverpool team to slow down their offensive tempo and pursue a stable balance between offense and defense in order to calm down several core players in Liverpool's midfield and frontcourt.

Facing a Manchester United team that has solved its defensive system problems and is very good at counterattacks, Liverpool must be patient and not be impetuous.

If Liverpool continues to attack, it may be possible to expand their lead, but there is also a high probability that Manchester United will penetrate their defense again.

Therefore, Klopp needs to avoid such risks, seek stability first, and then seek change!

Thiago is a very good organizer and he understands what Klopp means.

Under his control of the ball, Liverpool's offense became much more patient and they focused more on ground coordination.

However, facing Manchester United's tough central defense, Liverpool's patient attack was still a little lacking in energy.

They are not short of strikers who can make the final decision. Salah and Mane are both good at fighting tough battles.

But they do not have several of the top technical midfielders in football like Manchester City, and they are not creative enough to provide plenty of opportunities for the forwards.

This is a great blessing for these contemporary Premier League clubs.

Just imagine, if Manchester City's midfield is paired with Liverpool's two forwards, how strong will their ability to fight tough battles be?
Li Chen saw the creativity problem in Liverpool's central midfield, so he emphasized the intensity of the defense on Thiago.

On the offensive end, Li Chen asked Luke Shaw and Lingard on the other side to find more opportunities to pass and cut with Ronaldo.

It doesn't matter if you can't get into Liverpool's penalty area. You can create shooting opportunities for Ronaldo outside the penalty area and let the big brother find the feeling of shooting.

With the help of this kind of tactical force, Ronaldo quickly got several good long-range shooting opportunities.

Speaking of which, Ronaldo's ability to find opportunities to shoot is truly amazing.

Li Chen has been an assistant coach for so many years and has seen many different types of top forwards in the football world.

But he has only seen Cristiano Ronaldo, a striker with a huge shooting range who can pose a threat when he gets a chance to shoot from every angle.

Seeing that Ronaldo's condition has improved, Klopp could no longer sit still. He repeatedly signaled Fabinho and Henderson to expand the defense area and not give Ronaldo such easy opportunities to shoot.

It hasn’t been long since the famous scene where Atletico Madrid was stunned by Ronaldo’s amazing long-range shot.

No matter whether Ronaldo's shot was a stun or not, he is no longer able to continuously contribute high-quality world-class shots.

After Atletico Madrid was eliminated by Manchester United, which team now dares to let Ronaldo take long shots calmly within the shooting range?
You can't gamble on this kind of thing. If you lose, you will have to pay a huge price.

Klopp, who was not stubborn, chose to give Ronaldo more respect, and Manchester United also breathed a sigh of relief on the defensive end thanks to Ronaldo's deterrence to Liverpool's defense.

The wonderful game between the two head coaches on the tactical level satisfied countless fans.

There were back-and-forth offensive and defensive rounds, a surprising lead, a strong equalizer, adjustments to consolidate the position, and brilliant performances by star players.

This is a serious battle between the two Red Devils, and also an exciting match between two strong teams!

As the referee blew the whistle, the game entered the halftime break. A large number of fans who were paying attention to this game also started discussing the performance of the two teams today on online forums.

In general, Liverpool's performance should be more aggressive and their offensive firepower should be stronger.

But Manchester United's counterattack was equally sharp and brilliant, forcing Liverpool to stop fighting and consolidate their position early.

Li Chen's adjustment methods once again won the recognition and applause of countless neutral fans.

Since Mourinho left the Premier League, they have rarely seen a head coach make such decisive and effective on-the-spot adjustments in the Premier League.

Many fans are also increasingly agreeing with the statement that "Li Chen represents Mourinho's continued competition with Guardiola and Klopp."

Driven by this wave of public opinion, fans from all walks of life are increasingly looking forward to the performance of Manchester United and Liverpool in the second half of the game.

Klopp chose to attack in the second half without any suspense, and the Liverpool team continued to launch a more proactive attack on Manchester United.

However, Li Chen, who chose to make a substitution at halftime and replaced Lingard with Sancho, was not in a hurry to ask the Manchester United players on the field to shrink their defense line.

Instead, he boldly signaled the entire Manchester United team to push the line forward. On the one hand, this could cause Liverpool's attack to be offside, and on the other hand, it would naturally strengthen the counterattack!
With Sancho holding the ball and connecting the defense in the midfield and frontcourt, Manchester United's offensive changes were much more delicate than in the first half.

With the offensive transit station in place, coupled with Martial's tactical fulcrum, both Ronaldo and McTominay, who came in from behind, got more chances to shoot!

Liverpool were in full bloom on the offensive end, but they couldn't withstand Manchester United's counterattacks, which were getting more and more fierce.

Li Chen's style of play, which was to withstand the pressure and self-destruction from the opponent, really put Klopp under a lot of pressure!
He had originally planned to withstand the pressure and fight Li Chen for a few more minutes.

Salah's threatening pass after breaking through Luke Shaw in the 53rd minute of the second half and Mane's forward run to score really made him ecstatic.

But the flag that the linesman raised resolutely to indicate that the goal was offside immediately broke his defense.

"How could this be offside?! Damn the offside call! This is definitely a good goal!"

An angry Klopp directly cursed, but after the live broadcast screen replayed the whole process of Mane's offside, he shrugged and smiled at the camera as if he had never lost his temper.

Li Chen, who saw this scene, couldn't help but laugh in his heart at Klopp's "funny".

But after just six minutes, he could no longer laugh.

"Fark! How could this be offside?! This is definitely a good goal! VAR needs to intervene! We need a fair replay!"

Faced with the fact that Ronaldo's penalty goal was disallowed, an agitated Li Chen complained fiercely to the fourth official in great dissatisfaction.

But then, the live broadcast screen also played back the scene of Ronaldo's offside head...

Li Chen touched his nose and sat back on the bench angrily. Klopp, who was relieved, turned around and covered his chest secretly.

Damn, luckily VAR intervened, otherwise if the linesman couldn't see clearly the small distance Ronaldo crossed, and the referee also felt that he was not offside, then Liverpool would have suffered a great loss!
The fans at the scene who witnessed two goals being invalidated in succession felt like they were on a roller coaster and experienced tremendous ups and downs.

Players from both Manchester United and Liverpool also felt that they had escaped the punishment of death.

Both sides felt that they were somewhat lucky and somewhat unlucky. It felt too risky to continue the tit-for-tat, but they were unwilling to let it end like this...

Fortunately, Klopp and Li Chen quickly made the decision for them.

On the one hand, they are under great pressure to win the championship and dare not make more mistakes. On the other hand, they must consider Chelsea's imminent pursuit of points. If we talk about striving hard, both teams have already tried hard today.

They have been fighting under great pressure for nearly sixty minutes. One side scored a goal, while the other side had a goal invalidated. There is really nothing they can do about it as they cannot gain any advantage.

Everyone was helpless, and very pragmatically chose to stop at this critical juncture.

Both sides subsequently made routine substitutions, hoping to try their luck.

But Origi and Rashford, who came on as substitutes, seemed to be possessed today, with each one performing more abstractly than the other.

The game finally ended with Origi and Rashford taking turns to shoot from the air.

Although Li Chen and Klopp shook hands on the sidelines after the game with smiles on their faces, their smiles were full of helplessness.

If this game was held in the first half of the season, both Klopp and Li Chen would choose to fight to the end.

They will never let the opponent go, nor will they miss the rare opportunity to force their own players to break through.

But in the final sprint stage of the season, such a so-called derby battle would be very embarrassing.

Because the fundamental reason that determines the final outcome of this game is no longer the grudges and competitive attention between the two teams, but is mixed with too many off-field factors.

Manchester City and Chelsea are both waiting for Liverpool and Manchester United to fight to the point of mutual defeat.

On the contrary, a draw between the two teams is the most painful for the competitors.

So when they saw that breaking through the situation would involve great risks, Klopp and Li Chen chose to stop in tacit understanding.

Naturally, players from both teams were not satisfied with the final score of 1-1.

Liverpool players felt that they suffered a loss, after all, they were tied by their opponents at home.

Now, the Manchester United players, who are full of confidence, also feel that their revenge battle was ultimately a failure.

They really felt regretful for not being able to inflict a big defeat on Liverpool at Anfield!
The players of both teams ran towards their next league opponents with a pent-up anger.

Liverpool travelled to the away game in the 33rd league game to challenge Newcastle United, who are now actively grabbing points.

Eddie Howe may still want to rely on the home advantage to fight Liverpool and test the team's toughness in fighting tough battles.

As a result, this test almost brought down Newcastle, which had not yet completed its reconstruction.

Thanks to Chris Wood's header, Newcastle took the lead at home.

But in the first half alone, Liverpool relied on the explosive Salah to score twice to change the score to 2-1.

After the start of the second half, Mane and Firmino, who came on as a substitute, scored two goals in a row, which directly ruined the situation of the game!

In the end, Liverpool defeated Newcastle 4-1, taking away three points while also causing deep psychological trauma to Newcastle fans.

Manchester City was unexpectedly tied by West Ham United in this round of the league!
After the game, Guardiola angrily criticized the referee team that officiated the match between the two teams today, accusing them of inconsistent penalty standards and awarding a controversial penalty to West Ham United in the final moments of the game!
It’s not Guardiola’s fault that he is so angry.

After all, the Premier League title race has now reached a bloody stage. They finally waited for the opportunity for Liverpool to be tied by Manchester United, but they gave up this slight advantage afterwards.

Their current goal difference is far behind Liverpool.

It is precisely because of this gap that although they have the same points as Liverpool, they are still ranked second in the league standings.

If Manchester City really loses the Premier League title to Liverpool, who has the same points as them, because of the goal difference this season, the entire Manchester City team will be really angry!

In comparison, Manchester United, which was previously being chased by Chelsea, is not so anxious now.

Because in the 32nd round of the league they at least tied with Liverpool and got one point, while Chelsea suffered an upset at home and lost 1-4 to Brentford!

This has resulted in the points gap between Chelsea and Manchester United now being reduced to two points.

The points gap is not big, but it is safe enough. At least Manchester United supporters can sleep well for a few nights.

However, Manchester United cannot play in the 33rd round of the league for the time being. Their league match with Norwich has been postponed and they need to face Everton in the FA Cup semi-final first.

In the second half of this season, under the leadership of Lampard, Everton failed to reverse the decline and return to the top six, but instead further declined in the standings.

Their ranking has dropped directly from 14th when Lampard took over to 17th, and they are now still fighting for relegation.

I guess Everton’s top executives have already cursed Lampard as a “liar!” countless times in their hearts.

It’s a pity that they chose the person themselves, and now they have to bear the consequences themselves.

The key is that they dare not give Lampard too much public opinion and psychological pressure at this point in time, for fear that he will give up and lead Everton straight to the relegation zone.

As for the highlights of leading the team, there are some.

Leading the team to the final four of this season's FA Cup is the only achievement Lampard can boast of now.

And having come this far, the Everton team certainly cannot give up easily.

Everton players still have some ambitions in their hearts, wanting to win a domestic cup championship in this season that is already doomed to fail.

In this way, at least we can still play in European competitions next season.

Everton players, who had to advance, launched a brave charge towards Manchester United at Old Trafford!

It’s not that they don’t want to play counterattack, but they are simply unable to defend now, and they dare not give Manchester United the opportunity to calmly organize an attack.

Lampard's strategy of facing death did have some effect. At least his tactical arrangement was beyond Li Chen's expectations.

But that’s where the effect ends.

Because Lampard's so-called offensive tactics were completely nonsense in Li Chen's opinion.

When the ball reaches the frontcourt, the team wants to rely on the personal abilities of several core players to resolve the battle.

Of course, this may also be because Lampard's tactical thinking is really out of touch with reality, and Everton's players failed to grasp the essence of it...

Li Chen, who led his team to an easy win over Everton some time ago, did not hold back and directly signaled B Fee and Fred to continue putting pressure on Everton's midfield!
Then there is no more then.

Everton's midfield, which had no control over the tempo of the game, was thrown into disarray by Manchester United's pressure and pressing.

In the chaos, Ronaldo took the ball, observed it, and then made a cross to the back post, helping Rashford, who started the game today, to head the ball into the goal!

Once this goal was scored, Everton's so-called proactive offensive became a joke.

They didn't have the ability to park the bus, nor the tenacity, and their offense was a mess, and they were frequently stabbed by Manchester United's counterattacks.

This scene was exactly the same as the match in which Liverpool beat Manchester United 5-0 in the first half of the league.

But Manchester United held back today and were not so cruel, only giving Everton a 3-0 defeat.

Manchester United, who was the first to advance to the FA Cup final this season, soon received good news from the league.

Chelsea, playing at home, have not won in two league games and were tied 2-2 by Wolves in this round!

Currently, with one game left, they are still one point behind Manchester United. The chain is falling too quickly.

After receiving such good news, Li Chen made a decisive decision to rotate in the next round of the league.

Of course, unfortunately, Manchester United will challenge Arsenal away from home in the 34th round of the league, whose points are rapidly approaching Chelsea.

Manchester United, who made a large number of player rotations, unfortunately lost 1-2 away from home and failed to get any points.

Arsenal relied on this valuable victory to overtake Tottenham and is now only three points away from Chelsea, which is fourth in the standings!
Manchester United, having rotated a large number of main players, is gearing up for the 35th round of the league against Chelsea.

Now Chelsea, who are forced into a desperate situation to fight for the top four, are really panicking.

Manchester United is really not kind, how can they mess with their mentality like this? !
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(End of this chapter)