Born to be a coach [soccer]

A young Jordan Henderson puts his feet on the Anfield turf for the first time.When the team was in the Premier League last season, he was promoted to the first team after Sunderland played Liverpool away, and then the team was unfortunately relegated.So he has never played at Anfield with the team before.

At this time, he was warming up, but he was still somewhat affected by the atmosphere at Anfield, with the singing of the fans of the two teams ringing in his ears.Fans at all levels of English leagues have a tradition of singing. For example, at this moment, fans at home to Liverpool are singing, with only one line: "Where did you guys come from?"

Sunderland fans at the other end happily held up their scarves and happily sang repeatedly: "We are Sunderland, say, we are Sunderland!"

Henderson knew that one of his cousins ​​was also in the stands at this time, singing and dancing.On a January night, the city in north-west England was just two or three degrees above zero.While dancing, the fans breathed white steam, but none of them felt cold.

Earlier, Henderson heard from his cousin that the Sunderland fans came here in a group on the bus, and they strictly required group action, and no orders were allowed, in case there were "extreme" fans on the other side doing harm to the visiting team fans. move.

But judging from the situation at the scene, Liverpool fans are still friendly to Sunderland fans. Although they are not "like a family", they are at least polite.

The two teams are not mortal enemies, but no matter what, the previous confrontation between the two teams was due to Sunderland's draw with Liverpool, so there will be a rematch here.Ordinarily, Liverpool fans would not be so polite to them, but today the opponent's attitude was unexpectedly kind.

After a while, the mystery was revealed, and a slogan was displayed on the KOP stands of the home team: "Anton, welcome to Anfield!"

It turned out that the enthusiasm and politeness of Liverpool fans were all because of Anton's words, please leave a reporter from the "Sun" who was boycotted by Liverpool, and give Liverpool enough respect-this is enough, enough for Liverpool fans. The handsome young head coach of the visiting team welcomed him as a friend.

By the way, Sunderland players and fans also enjoyed the "courtesy" together.

When I was young, the game was about to start, and Henderson followed his teammates back to the player tunnel, ready to play.They also did not expect that the main striker Vincent would sit on the bench this time, but Anton made it very clear when arranging tactics before the game. Each of them was very clear and knew what position they would play and what they would cover. Area, what kind of ball to pass, so the players just regarded the "no front" tactic arranged by Anton this time as a "surprise" against Liverpool.

After all, the players can't hear the BBC's commentary. Fletcher is explaining to the TV audience: "Benitez started to use this peculiar tactic as early as in Valencia: there is no fixed player in the team. The forwards carry out the task of rushing forward, but multiple players in the midfield take turns to attack, so that the opponent's defenders are very difficult to defend."

"It's an imaginative tactic that was once considered deviant. However, Benitez was one of the first coaches to adopt this tactic, and Sunderland put up a 460 formation in front of him. , isn’t this...there is a Chinese proverb, which seems to be called, ‘Get a big ax in front of Luban’?”

But Henderson couldn't hear these explanations, and neither could the fans on the field.At this time, Liverpool fans had already started singing their team song "You Never Walk Alone". The loud singing echoed in the huge stadium, and the flag with the "Liverbird" logo was flying up and down in the KOP stands.This singing sound and this sight greatly shocked Henderson—he could only feel that the blood in his body was gradually boiling. He raised his head high and clasped his hands tightly behind his back. There was only one feeling in his heart:

What a blessing to be able to play in this stadium!

Anton, who was standing upright in front of the coach's bench, was thinking about another thing: the setting of "Life in the Green Field" was too real and real. The game he simulated in the simulator that night was completely different from his own Compared with the atmosphere at Anfield, it is almost the same and indistinguishable.

It can be said that what the developers of "Green Life" has done is a great job. If "Green Life" can be launched and promoted in the future, it will definitely be a sensation in the world.Anton is sincerely proud of the developers.

But when Anton simulated the game, although he knew that he did not have a superstar like Ronaldo available, he was far from expecting that even the team's Zhengyin striker would be placed on the bench. In a word, I am not deceived.

Benitez is a master of tactics, and he himself was one of the first coaches to use the "no front formation" tactic, and he is very familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of this formation.

But what Anton wants to give it a go is that few teams in the Premier League have used this style of play.Anton suddenly used this tactic. Although Benitez knew the details, it was not easy for his players to implement the corresponding tactic suddenly.To be precise, it depends on the performance of the players on the field.

Soon, the referee on duty blew the whistle to start the game.

Eriksson started today.The position he is familiar with is the attacking midfielder, and this tactic arranged by Anton makes him play very comfortably.Eriksson keeps wandering in the frontcourt. Once he receives a pass from his teammates, Eriksson observes the position of his teammates on the field at any time, and uses him as the fulcrum to launch an attack.

In the frontcourt, it may be Nubel who is playing on the right, or Jones who is trying to form a breakthrough on the left, or it may be the captain Garner who rushed forward without knowing it.

As Anton said, the flexibility brought by this tactic was even unexpected by the Sunderland players themselves.With Eriksson, who has exquisite skills and high passing accuracy, is responsible for sorting out the frontcourt. Sunderland seems to have taken the initiative from the beginning.Nubel and Garner threatened Liverpool's goal twice in a row, but they were all resolved by Reina and Carragher.

Benitez, who was directing the game from the sidelines, was also in a hurry, standing on the sidelines and shouting loudly.The visiting team actually used the tactics he used to deal with his own team. Can Mr. Bei be in a hurry?

At the critical moment, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard stepped forward.About 15 minutes into the game, Gerrard realized that Eriksen, the baby-faced blond boy, was the core of Sunderland's attack.So Gerrard stepped forward decisively to press.

Eriksson's footwork is good and delicate, but as a young player under the age of 18, his experience in major competitions is naturally not as good as that of the captain Gerrard, who has experienced many battles.Before he could turn around, Garner beside him had already rushed back to his own half and returned to defense.

He was robbed three or five times in this way, Eriksson was suppressed at this point, Sunderland's offensive slowed down obviously, and gradually took more defensive positions, while Torres, Kurt and others got in front of Sunderland's goal. Opportunities are also increasing.Torres once had a cold shot and kicked it within the range of the goal frame.Fortunately, goalkeeper Halldosson was concentrated enough to cling to the ball, otherwise Sunderland's goal would have been lost.

However, a situation that no one expected appeared-in the 25th minute of the game, while running without the ball, Torres suddenly fell to the ground without physical contact.

Sunderland's captain, Garner, has regained the ball, but at this time he still kicked out of bounds.The referee had seen Torres' situation, and quickly turned around to greet Liverpool's team doctor to enter the field.

When the team doctor talked to Torres, Benitez already had a very ugly face, pacing anxiously on the sidelines.Ngogo, who was sitting on the bench, had already stood up, warming up in a hurry.

Anton stood aside, frowning tightly, not at all happy: this is exactly what he expected before the game, Torres' physical condition is not good and he is prone to injury.He had already guessed whether Bei Shuai would choose to rotate Torres in this FA Cup replay-but Benitez still insisted on letting his beloved disciple start.

But Anton can also understand Benitez's choice, because this season's performance is not good, Liverpool's performance is sluggish, Benitez has been criticized, under pressure, he can only do his best to win this game Contest.

No one wanted this to happen, especially Benitez, but it happened right before our eyes.

The team doctor made a gesture to Benitez for a substitution, and Benitez immediately arranged for Ngogo to play, replacing the injured Torres.With the help of the team doctor, Torres limped off the field.There was a dead silence in Anfield, and the fans noticed that the golden boy reached out and wiped his face when he walked towards the player tunnel. This action broke the hearts of the fans-no one wants to see Torres use this Even the fans of the away team are unwilling to end this game in such a way.

However, this is not the end.Anton frowned not far from Benitez.His eyes were fixed on Liverpool's field captain, Steven Gerrard.

The Liverpool players kindly throw the ball back to the Sunderland players and the game restarts.But it is obvious that Gerrard's condition is also declining rapidly, and it seems that there are some problems with his hamstring.Gerrard's siege to Eriksson several times actually allowed Eriksson to find a chance to break through.The young teenager has gradually regained his confidence, he can dribble a lot more freely, and his passing accuracy has also improved.

And Gerrard... Anton thought silently at the side: I'm afraid it will be difficult to last the whole game - but this is a knockout match, and if there is a tie, there will be overtime and even penalty kicks.

In the first half, both sides failed to score goals, and finally scored a goalless draw [-]-[-].At the beginning of the second half, everyone was surprised to see that the captain's armband originally worn on Steven Gerrard's arm was now worn on the arm of the team's deputy Carragher.

Gerrard was also substituted due to injury.

Before the game, no one could have predicted that Sunderland would face Liverpool without Gerrard and Torres at the same time.

Although the fans of the home team were silent, the Sunderland fans who were visiting were also afraid to show their atmosphere.

——No one thought of it, and no one wanted to see it, but this is football, and this is life.

The author has something to say: This FA Cup game in history is such a situation. Torres was injured and replaced in the 26th minute, and Gerrard was replaced at halftime.The fans were heartbroken when news broke the next day (January 1) that Torres needed surgery for a knee injury.However, T14 did not undergo surgery until April, during which they played with injuries. Naturally, they lacked a bright performance in the World Cup in South Africa...

Here I can only sincerely hope that there will be no more injuries on the green field.

I hope this article can somewhat make up for some similar regrets.