As the game continued, Leeds United seized on Liverpool's Xabi Alonso and never allowed him to receive the ball comfortably. Liverpool's offense can only be launched through Riise on the wing, or by using high balls to find Mele in front, but the effect is not very good.
Leeds United almost scored in the 31st minute of the first half.
Robinson took the goal kick. The two center backs Albuchesson and Matteisson were very close to Robinson, and then the two full backs moved forward, almost parallel to Davis and Graveson in front of the penalty area.
Then the two wingers, together with Van Persie and Smith, were very forward, almost parallel to the center line.
In this way, a large vacuum area was created near Leeds United's penalty area and the center line.
Just after Robinson passed the ball to Matteisson, Leeds United's Smith and Robin van Persie began to respond back.
Liverpool had no choice here, because there was a large vacuum area in the middle, so the two center backs Hyypia and Carragher could only run back with Smith and the others.
At this time, Matteisen did not give the ball to Davis and Graveson, but directly gave the ball to Smith who was retreating.
Liverpool's midfielder began to move closer to Smith, and Hamann and Alonso were both approaching.
Four people from Liverpool formed a siege on two people from Leeds United.
But at this time, Leeds United's two wingers Romedal and Grenjaer did not come to respond. Instead, they started to advance forward, taking away Riise and Josemi.
Smith passed a cross to Van Persie.
At this time, Liverpool's focus is again on Van Persie.
Before Hyypia, Hamann and Alonso surrounded him, Van Persie immediately knocked back to Mills, who leaned towards the center and appeared in the ribs.
As mentioned before, today Liverpool's left wing will move closer to the middle because of Kewell, so Riise is basically the only one on the left side. Riise was taken away by Romedal's movement and is far away.
Mills received the ball very calmly, and then made a diagonal through ball, stuffed it near the center circle, and rolled towards Liverpool's half.
Smith made a fishhook-like reverse run, throwing away Carragher and appearing near the football.
Three-on-two in the frontcourt.
And it was wide open. Liverpool's two full-backs were staring at Leeds United's Glenchard and Romedal on the wing.
Smith almost carried him dozens of meters by himself to the front of Liverpool's penalty area, and Carragher could only chase behind him.
Facing the attacking Kirkland, Smith chose to lob.
Just a pity.
As the ball flew past Kirkland, he touched it with his hand, slowing it down.
Carragher, who was chased back from the goal line, kicked out.
"Hey~" The entire audience let out a sigh.
Then the crowd at Elland Road burst into thunderous applause. They saw a perfect attack by the home team, but it was a pity that they were just a little bit lucky.
Smith also extended his thumb towards Mills, who had just passed the ball to him.
Just 4 minutes later, another similar tactic was used, and Leeds United launched another attack.
This time it was Robinson who got the ball, again occupying almost the same position. Robinson gave the ball to Hart on the left.
Hart passed to Davis, who passed forward.
It was Van Persie and Smith who retreated at the same time again.
This time Hyypia and Carragher learned the lesson and didn't follow too deeply.
So Smith got the ball very comfortably.
But we still have to face Gerrard and Alonso in front of us, and Carragher behind us.
Smith passed back to Graveson.
Gravesen faced the ball and passed it directly behind Riise.
Because Romedal did not advance forward this time, but also followed Van Persie and others to retreat slightly, and moved a little closer to the center, so Riise also followed.
But Gravesen's long pass went behind Rise, and Rise didn't notice that Mills suddenly stepped forward again.
It's still the same old problem. Today, one Rise versus two, so the number of people is a bit disadvantageous.
Mills brought the ball to the penalty area and watched as Hyypia immediately caught up with him and took a long shot.
In fact, Mills has a very strong toe, otherwise he would not be the starter in Lee's tactics and put Kelly on the bench.
What George Lee likes is the offensive ability of Mills and Hart from the wing.
Including substitute full-back Baines on the left, he also won many playing opportunities because he was able to participate in the offense.
Back on the field.
Although Mills usually participates in offenses, he doesn't have much chance to shoot. Today he finally got a chance and shot a long shot before Hyypia.
This shot was powerful and heavy.
"Bang~" hit the corner of the door frame firmly.
The fans at Elland Road were holding their heads in regret again.
The same action also happened on the Leeds United coaching bench.
A group of people held their heads, shouted, shook their heads, sighed, and turned around in unison.
Here in Liverpool, Benitez took advantage of Kirkland's opportunity to pick up the ball for the opener, called Gerrard, and quickly arranged it.
Having been threatened by Leeds United's similar tactics twice in a row, we must give an explanation, otherwise the first half will definitely not end in a draw.
Benitez knows that Xabi Alonso was strangled offensively, and his other offensive initiators were basically injured and unable to play.
Riise was also in a lot of pain by Leeds United. He couldn't get out to attack forward, and it was difficult to defend well.
There will be no way to change the attack for a while, and we can only make detailed arrangements during the midfield.
We can only make a fuss about defense.
Benitez asked Gerrard to move closer to the left and tried to get Kewell back to the left.
In short, Gerrard and Kewell have to help defend on the left wing, and they cannot put all the defensive pressure on Riise.
After the arrangement was completed, the effect was there. Knowing that Leeds United would not be asked to play similar tactics again, Riise's pressure was reduced.
After Riise was liberated, he also started a counterattack against Leeds United.
After being held down for half the game, I was finally able to vent my anger.
In the 43rd minute of the game, Riise followed Mills' example and took a long shot near the foot of the penalty area.
Fortunately, Smith blocked it with his body and did not pose a threat.
Finally, the Liverpool people persisted to finish the first half and entered the halftime break maintaining a 0-0 score.
^^^
When George Lee entered the home team's lounge, he saw Smith rubbing his back and Van Persie pressing his shoulders.
"Fxxk, that kick was really too strong. It's been almost ten minutes and my back and shoulders still hurt."
Smith is still recalling the goal when Riise kicked the ball towards him near the end of the first half.
"Are you okay?" George Li also knew the power of Rise. The long-range shooting power of the Norwegian heavy artillery was not blocked, not to mention that Smith used his body to block it. If it had been anything else, it would probably not be a simple pain.
Colin McGee asked the team doctor for a medical spray and threw it to Van Persie, who started spraying it on Smith's painful area.
The team doctor was also busy bringing ice cubes over and prepared to apply it to Smith.
After the treatment, Smith felt much better.
"It's okay, it doesn't hurt now." Smith moved his back and shoulders again.
"Why don't you come up in the second half and do a check-up?" Li George is still more concerned about the players' health, especially the team's main players, and Smith is basically the leader on the Leeds United field now, with Mateo and Kelly gradually fading out. After joining the main lineup, Smith is the veritable captain of Leeds United.
Regarding Mateo, the first captain of the team came to talk to Li, and he himself proposed a transfer.
Of course, the negotiations between the two parties were relatively harmonious. Mateo also knew that due to his own injuries and for the stability of the team's lineup, he was already the third choice for Leeds United's central defender, and sometimes even ranked behind Gill. Gallon behind, just a little better than Dawson. So he wants to go to a Premier League team where he can start for two years while he is still able to play.
George Li also promised him that if there is a suitable offer in the summer, he will let him go. If a suitable central defender can be added in the winter window, he can be let go when the winter transfer window opens in January.
At the same time, Li George also said that if there are some games that are not too important, Mateo will also be allowed to play, such as the FA Cup and so on. The main reason is that Leeds United has been eliminated by Arsenal in the League Cup, otherwise they can also play in the League Cup.
In short, there was no unpleasantness between the two parties because Mateo wanted to leave.
George Li is very generous. If you want to leave, I will let you go. It’s easy to come and go. Mateo also has a very good attitude. I don’t make trouble. If you ask me to play, I will play. If you don’t let me play, I will train hard and maintain my condition.
In the locker room, Smith moved around again and felt that there was nothing wrong with him.
"I can, no need to change."
After Smith finished speaking, the team doctor nodded towards Li, indicating that he could play.
George Li continued to lay out tactics.
"On the field, we did a good job of limiting Xavi Alonso and we have to continue to do so in the second half."
"In the second half, Alan, you should move back a little bit and participate more in the defense of the midfield and backcourt."
"Leave it to Robin, Dennis and Jesper to strangle Alonso and the two centre-backs."
"You two wingers, press the two central defenders. It's better to use the method we used in the first half of the season and press harder."
"They will definitely use other methods in the second half, so they will push harder and get closer to Hamann."
Davis and Graveson exchanged a look and nodded.
It's not easy for two people to exchange glances successfully. One is wearing sunglasses and the other is reflecting on the top of his head. It probably depends on many years of experience in playing football.
"We must prevent Hamann from getting too comfortable playing the ball to Gerrard and Kewell, and don't let the two of them make too comfortable moves after receiving the ball."
"You need to be active in running and filling in positions. When defending, you need to form a more-versus-less situation and gradually press their space."
"Similarly, you have to create space for me when attacking, do you understand?"
"Move more, take away their back waistband, and open up the space in front of the penalty area for me."
"Cut in more, especially on the right, so that Riise doesn't have any spare energy to go forward."
"I don't want to get fucked on Alan's back or anywhere else."
"In a word, I want to score in the second half to prevent Benitez from taking away a single point at Elland Road."
"do you understand?"
George Li talked a lot in one breath and made very detailed arrangements.
Mainly targeting several key figures in Liverpool, Riise, Alonso, Gerrard and Kewell.
Like Liverpool's right wing, George Lee didn't even mention it. Who are Josemi and Pangler?
It would be okay if Finnan and Luis Garcia were there, but these two are still at Liverpool and have not come to Leeds with the team.
In short, seeing Liverpool's lineup, Li George thought about scoring a goal in the second half and getting 3 points.
