opening a balotelli

Chapter 260 Before the Champions League
In fact, Liverpool's state has picked up recently.

After five rounds of invincibility at the beginning of the season, Liverpool vented their depression in the sixth round, beating Norwich City 5-2.

And don't look at Liverpool's poor performance so far, but Suarez's performance is very strong.

After the seven rounds of the league, Suarez handed over a data sheet with 6 goals and 1 assist, second only to Li Mo who scored 11 goals and Van Persie who scored 7 goals among forwards.

Against the backdrop of Liverpool's poor record today, I can only say tears.

Suarez really tried his best to procrastinate, but he just couldn't procrastinate. It seemed even more tragic than Van Persie last season.

At any rate, Van Persie still has a group of teammates who are well-adjusted, who can attack the city with peace of mind in front.

But Suarez's current group of teammates in Liverpool can't be said to be bad, but they just don't work together.

This will take a few years, Suso, Sterling and Suarez's attack line, can it be said that it is bad?
Gerald and Henderson, together with Shaheen's midfield combination is not bad.

In terms of strength on paper, Liverpool is at least a lot stronger than last season, but it can't play out. It's not just Rodgers scratching his head, but many Liverpool players also lose confidence the more they play.

It can only be said that they are the right people, but they did not get together at the right time. In Li Mo's impression, next year Liverpool will achieve very good results and almost win the championship.

It can be seen from this that the formation of a team is really not just about buying good players. If they don't work together, and the technical and tactical play styles don't match, it's still useless.

But although Liverpool is not a big threat to Sheffield United now, Li Mo is still looking forward to the match with Suarez.

This season can be regarded as the beginning of Suarez's rise in the five major leagues. Next season, he will become a god in the Premier League, and then he will move to Barcelona to become the world's number one center forward.

Of course, this is the development of Suarez in the next few years in a world without Li Mo.

Many things in football have changed now, and it is hard for Suarez to say whether he will go to Barcelona, ​​but his strength will not change much. In this period of time, Suarez will still bloom his own of dazzling brilliance.

Just like Van Persie last season, Li Mo needs an opponent who can stimulate him. Even if Suarez has not yet grown to a full body level, he is qualified to bring him some pressure.

As a rare focus match in the eighth round of the Premier League, with the goal battle between Tottenham and Chelsea ahead, the match between Sheffield United and Liverpool still aroused the expectations of many fans.

Although Liverpool's winning percentage is very low, they are playing at home at Anfield, which has a morale bonus, and their state will always be better.

However, after Sheffield United released the starting list, many fans expressed their depression on the Internet.

Bell, Drinkwater, and Vertonghen will not start, especially without Bell, the fans immediately feel that the game will be much less exciting.

Everyone wants to see Bell and Li Mo's attacking duo soaring at the speed of the blood in the counterattack.

Although Vardy is also good, compared with Bell, his speed is not so fast.

Speed ​​doesn't care about the public opinion at all. He still has to consider the Champions League match in a few days' time. He just needs to play Liverpool to be stable. In the second half, he will decide whether to play Bell and the others to find their feelings.

At 20:15 on the 00th, amidst the loud singing of the home fans, the eighth round of the Premier League match between Sheffield United and Liverpool officially started.

Zhan Jun also began to introduce the lineups and starting players of both sides during a period of entanglement.

"Sheffield United still chose the four-four-two formation they are most familiar with. Today, Berbatov is partnering with Li Mo, the left midfielder Vardy, the right midfielder Joaquin, and the double midfielder is Dembele. And Matic, today Vertonghen is on the bench in defense, with Stones and Maguire at center back, Matt Ridge at left back, Matthew Lorton at right back and Sommer in goalkeeper."

Director Zhang watched the game for almost 1 minute, and then picked up the conversation.

"Both De Bruyne and Bell have played the last two world preliminaries. They may need to rest and adjust their state. Today Vardy rarely appeared in the position of full-back. He can also play in this position. He can get the ball when playing and counterattacking, and he is also very active in defense. Compared with last season, Sheffield United's bench lineup is very deep this season."

"Yes, even if Sheffield United has a rotation lineup, as long as Li Mo and Maguire are on the field, they can be guaranteed on both ends of the offense and defense. It depends on whether Dembele can put the midfielder together The core work has been done."

Zhan Jun still pays more attention to the configuration of the midfield, especially Moussa Dembele.

In the past, Drinkwater controlled the overall situation in the midfield. Today, without the drinking brother, Dembele will single-handedly provoke the burden of the core of the midfield.

Although with the help of Joaquin and Matic, this is still a big challenge for Dembele.

However, in the opening stage, Liverpool tried to attack for a while after the kick-off. Currently Sheffield United is still defending, and there is no problem in the organization of the offensive end.

Liverpool, on the other hand, played for a few minutes. Shaheen was the point of departure for the midfielder, and it was Gerrard for a while.

Shaheen was loaned to Liverpool by Mourinho this season, but he was not sold directly, which proves that he still has a place in the heart of Magic Bird.

After all, he was a true core in Dortmund in his early 20s, and he overthrew the talented midfielder of Nan Dawang.

Although there is some glass, he was injured shortly after arriving in Real Madrid last year, and missed the best period of running in with the team, so he didn't have many opportunities to play, but Magic Bird still chose to give Shaheen more time.

If he can perform well in Liverpool this season, after returning to the Bernabeu, Shaheen will be able to get a chance to compete fairly with Modric and the others.

But in Li Mo's view, Shaheen's performance was too slow.

The Premier League has never been a league that is patient with talent. If Shaheen was his teammate, then Li Mo would tell him: You have to fight!
In the team, it is necessary to use outstanding performance to strive for tactical status. On the field, it is necessary to use an active game state to compete for control of the midfield.

Gerrard is obviously delegating power consciously, and keeps giving the ball to Shaheen, hoping that he will connect the midfield.

But Shaheen still seems to be a little hesitant, a little hesitant, it seems that he is not ready to work hard in the Premier League.

When Rodgers first contacted Mourinho, he might only want to use Shaheen's talent to help Liverpool reshape the midfield, but he ignored one thing.

When a player's heart is not on the team, it is impossible for him to fulfill his talent and play a satisfactory quality of the game.

Even without the infestation of injuries, it would be difficult for Shaheen to play the amazing performance he had in the Bundesliga in the Premier League, because his mind was never on Liverpool.

He agreed to come to Liverpool before to prove his worth to Real Madrid, but after experiencing the rhythm of the Premier League, Shaheen may just want to return to Dortmund immediately at this time.

Rogers' team building plan was at risk of dying at the beginning, which is really miserable.

The midfield organization is loose, and Liverpool's frontcourt attack is therefore very slow.

The two attacking midfielders even had to retreat many times to get the ball and then move forward.

Yes, Liverpool played a four-three-two-one formation in this game. The key is not the three midfielder system, but a single midfielder plus two central midfielders, and two midfielders in front, which seems a bit nondescript.

No one knows what the tactical genius Rogers thinks, and Sterling, who has never been there, was also placed in the midfielder by him.

An immature, physically underdeveloped little man took the ball many times and tried to pass through the center of Sheffield United.

He happened to be facing a combination of strong men like Matic and Dembele, and the end can be imagined.

The Liverpool fans at home couldn't bear to watch it.

They are not opposed to the head coach using young players, but anyway, you have to use this position, right?

With Sterling's stature, don't let him play from the wing first, how adaptable he is, he is not full yet, he has to be tested by the toughest midfielder in the Premier League at present, please, be a human Rodgers!
Even Messi, Ronaldo and Kakalai cannot withstand this intensity. It can only be said that Rogers trusts Sterling too much.

Of course, another teenager, Suso, did not perform much better. Under Sheffield United's continuous defensive pressure, he even made mistakes many times, and the fans in front of the TV shook their heads again and again.

What's the point of playing this!

No wonder Liverpool's start to the league has not been smooth. They only won one game after seven rounds of the league.

Many fans who eat melons think this way now, but they misunderstood Rogers.

Rodgers actually tried other players before, such as Downing, Borini, and that guy Shelvey.

But just because they couldn't win the game, these players couldn't perform well. Rogers finally had to use Suso and Sterling.

After Suso started, Norwich 5-2 in one game, Stoke City 0-0 in one game, and four points in two games, Liverpool's performance was much better than before.

Under the stark contrast before and after, Rogers can only be forced to continue to focus on two young teenagers.

The main reason was that Sheffield United's midfield was too strong. Even if Rogers replaced Downing and Borini, they would still struggle and get lost under Sheffield United's midfield defense.

So there is simply no choice, but if you have Xavi Alonso or Mascherano in your hand, Rogers also has the confidence to fight Sheffield United from the beginning to the end of the game, how can you be so angry.

After Sheffield United easily withstood Liverpool's drizzle-like offensive, they also began to look for opportunities to organize an attack.

Dembele is actually good at passing the ball. Although he is better at holding the ball to advance, but let him honestly organize the organization in the middle, and he can still complete the task very well.

At least when the game lasted for almost 10 minutes, Speed ​​was very satisfied with Dembele's performance.

Active on the defensive end, patient when attacking, did not blindly go forward and lose the ball, and worked with Joaquin to sort out the midfield very smoothly. Although not as good as Drinkwater, he can do this. Enough is enough.

After receiving a lot of passing support, Li Mo also started to do things in Liverpool's backcourt.

He has Brother Xiaosa next to him, and Vardy on the left. It is very comfortable whether he is playing the ball forward or playing with Brother Xiaosa.

And today Vardy's full-back is still an equally young teenager Wisdom.

He is tall and his confrontation ability looks good, but his speed is not as good as Vardy's.

Coupled with lack of experience and frizzy defense, Li Mo consciously kept sending Vardy the ball behind him after he got the ball, and asked him to teach the young player a lesson.

Vardy didn't play any tricks, after all, he didn't play very well if he wanted to, just one word, rush!

Relying on the tacit understanding with Li Mo and Brother Xiaosha, Vardy received their passes many times and rushed behind Wisdom.

Hey, anyway, there is such a weak point that can be exploited. If you don’t exploit it, you must be a fool.

The presence of two high center forwards, Li Mo and Berbatov inside the penalty area, immediately sounded the alarm for Liverpool's defense.

Fortunately, Skrtel and Agger are in relatively good form today. They held on for more than [-] minutes and haven't given Sheffield United a chance to score, but they have already given a lot of corner kicks.

Rodgers turned pale every time he saw Matic, Maguire and Dembele rushing into the Liverpool penalty area.

Together with Li Mo and Brother Xiaosa, these are five strong men of about 1.9 meters in height, which look really scary.

Sheffield United took three corner kicks and grabbed a point twice. Li Mo headed straight once and was saved by Reina. Such a scene made Liverpool fans very anxious.

If you continue to play like this, then Sheffield United will not have to play any complicated offensive routines, just use the huge advantage of set kicks to attack, and sooner or later, Liverpool's defense will be overwhelmed.

No matter how desperate Skrtel and Agger are, facing five tall and strong headers, they are not enough to watch even if they are in explosive form.

Of course Rogers knows the root of the problem on the field now, but it's not easy for him to make substitutions and adjustments immediately.

This will replace Wisdom with Enrique, which will definitely be a serious blow to the teenager. No matter what, we have to look again, right?
As a result, this is what happened.

Sheffield United will not play friendly and modest with Liverpool.

In the 301st minute of the first half, Li Mo and Vardy suddenly changed positions after making eye contact. Li Mo took the ball and pulled it to the side. Facing the nervous Wisdom, he directly started the heads-up mode.

After stepping on a few bicycles on the sidewalk, Li Mo directly went outside and dribbled in. Although he didn't get rid of Wisdom's defense immediately, he used his strong body to achieve a forcible inside cut.

It's just bullying that you don't have enough competition experience, it's bullying that your physical fitness is not as good as mine.

Vardy can only hit Wisdom with a bottom pass, but for Li Mo, there are more ways to play against this young man.

After the inside cut was successful, Li Mo overcame Wisdom's defensive interference, and still pondered whether to pass the ball or kick himself, and hit directly.

As a result, there was a sudden burst of force from his side, followed by a pain in his calf, Li Mo frowned and was tripped inside the restricted area.

The referee was nearby, and he could see clearly that Wisdom tackled the ball from the rear but shoveled it on Li Mo's leg.

A whistle sounded that shocked all Liverpool fans, and then the referee on duty pointed to the penalty area, reached out to his chest and walked towards Wisdom.

Gerrard's heart skipped a beat, and he trotted to the referee to defend Wisdom, but the referee was unmoved and still took out the red card on his chest!
"Red dot package! Oh, young player Wisdom made a big mistake, he was too young and aggressive! Fortunately, Li Mo is fine, otherwise he may be suspended after the game, this kind of side and rear tackle action It's too bad!"

"Such a price is too heavy for Liverpool, Wisdom, this young man may not be used to the Premier League! Fortunately, Li stood up after sitting on the ground for a few seconds, which means that Li has excellent physical fitness. A player with average physical fitness may have caused a serious injury just now!"

Li Mo waved to the concerned teammates who surrounded him, indicating that he had no problem, and then walked to the penalty spot with the ball in his arms.

The Liverpool players complained for a while, and after seeing the referee gradually becoming a little unhappy, they all dispersed angrily.

Reina has scolded Wisdom a dozen times in his heart, but now he has to stand on the goal line first, ready to save this penalty.

Without much foreshadowing, after the referee blew his whistle, Li Mo took a deep breath, then resolutely took two steps to run up, and shot furiously!

Reina gambled on the upper right corner, but the football shot by Li Mo rubbed directly under the crossbar, and finally plunged into the net in the middle of the goal.

1-0!

Not only scored a goal to break the game, Li Mo also allowed Liverpool to play one player less early. The rest of the game was very easy for Sheffield United.

After a simple celebration, Li Mo greeted his teammates and ran back to his own half, but the Liverpool fans were ashamed.

Rogers has nothing to do, he can only let Henderson go back to play right back first, and wait until the intermission to see how to adjust.

In the face of Liverpool's current situation, Sheffield United directly pressed ahead.

There was one less interception point in the midfield, and Sheffield United quickly transferred the ball to the two wings. Whether it was an attack from the ribs or a cross from the wing, it was difficult for Liverpool to parry.

No.40 two minutes into the first half, almost 10 minutes after the siege, Berbatov ferryed the header in front of the penalty area, Li Mo gave the ball, and Vardy pushed forward and scored easily!
After scoring the second goal, Sheffield United basically broke the game, and there were only a few players left on Liverpool's side who were still trying to find opportunities.

But the reality is cruel. The strength of Liverpool was far inferior to Sheffield United, and now there is one less player. The futile struggle seems to be just a situation of unwillingness to be crushed.

In the 6 minutes of the second half, after Sheffield United scored again through a set kick, the suspense of the game was completely ended.

After the goal, Maguire and Li Mo made a listening celebration at the bottom line. After 3 minutes, Li Mo was replaced and Bell came on the field to find the feeling of the game.

After 60 minutes of the game, Drinkwater and Medel also played one after another, replacing Dembele and Matic, purely as a warm-up.

After Sheffield United scored the third goal, they slowed down their offensive rhythm, saving Lee Kee a face.

The final score was also 3-0. Sheffield United won easily. In addition to further consolidating their lead in the league, it was also a good start for the Champions League match on the 25th.

The five major leagues have also gradually finished the eighth or ninth round of the league in these two days, and the eyes of fans all over the world are once again set on the Champions League.

Another round of fan feast is coming.

(End of this chapter)