Chapter 78 You saved Liverpool, but at what cost, Jurgen
All fans who follow Newcastle know that the Magpies will face the toughest schedule challenge of the season.

But they also generally believe that Manchester United and later Manchester City are Newcastle’s more difficult opponents in this devilish schedule.

Originally, Liverpool was more qualified to snipe Newcastle, but now they are still mired in the quagmire of poor performance and it is difficult for them to save themselves, let alone challenge the first place in the league.

In the last eight rounds, Liverpool has only won two games, and then lost two games to Brighton and Wolves respectively.

Not only were they eliminated from the FA Cup, but they were also overtaken by Brentford in the league rankings and now have dropped to eighth place.

This decline is exactly the same as Manchester United’s in the first half of last season.

The difference may be that the entire coaching staff of Manchester United at that time was in complete chaos. They could neither firmly follow the new tactical path nor dare to go back to the old path.

And now Liverpool still has a firm helmsman, and the team and the fans all know where the problem lies.

As long as Klopp is still there and can preside over the team’s reconstruction, Liverpool fans believe that the team will definitely be able to return to the top of the Premier League in a relatively short period of time.

But how long will this chaotic period last?

Liverpool fans don’t know.

After all, the team’s limited budget has been almost used up in the last summer window and the current winter window.

After introducing Nunez and Gakpo to reorganize the front line, Liverpool can only wait until the next summer window to have transfer fees to introduce outstanding young midfielders.

Now, they can only rely on a few veteran midfielders and the team’s youth training to get through the awkward transition period.

I can’t bear it anymore, so I have to hold on. There is really no other way.

In this situation, even the most hardcore Liverpool fans have little confidence in defeating Newcastle.

Perhaps, taking away a point at St. James’ Park would be a great result for Liverpool now.

But the Liverpool players, who were at the top of the Premier League and the Champions League last season, would never allow and could not tolerate the team losing its confidence and arrogance.

No matter how pessimistic the outside world is, they intend to compete head-on with Newcastle.

This is also what Klopp meant.

He could accept that his team’s capabilities declined and became weaker, but he would never accept that his players had lost the courage to face strong enemies head-on.

After a week’s rest, Klopp led his main players to Newcastle to face their biggest challenge in the league this season.

When Li Chen saw the Liverpool players in good spirits before the game, he couldn’t help but feel emotional.

“As expected, they are a team that has been at the top of the football world in recent seasons. Their spirit is really strong.”

After thinking about it, he also felt that Liverpool was really unlucky.

Liverpool, who had just defeated Everton in the derby in the last round of the league, obviously breathed a sigh of relief.

If they continue to meet a team in the middle or lower levels of the league in this round and successfully defeat them, achieving two consecutive wins, then the entire team might really gain momentum.

Many times, two consecutive wins are so important to a team in a slump.

If we lift it up in one go, it will probably lead to more consecutive victories.

Perhaps it will be difficult for Liverpool, who have grabbed a wave of points, to return to the top three in the Premier League standings, because the records of the three teams ahead of them are too abnormal.

But it is easy to return to the Champions League zone.

Although they have dropped to eighth place in the standings, they are only six points away from fourth-placed Brighton.

Unfortunately, they met Newcastle at this critical moment.

Li Chen will allow the team to get only the minimum one point in the head-to-head confrontation with Manchester City, because Manchester City has the strength and qualifications to make Newcastle give in half a step.

But he will never allow his team to lose points against the current Liverpool.

In order to ensure that the team can win the game as safely as possible, Li Chen also made corresponding tactical arrangements targeting Liverpool’s midfield defense.

On the evening of February 2th, Newcastle played a key match against Liverpool at home.

Li Chen sent in new signing Anthony Gordon in the first start, letting him form a forward trident with Ronaldo and Havertz.

In midfield, Li Chen chose the double central midfielder combination of Guimarães and Maddison today, with Sean Longstaff playing as the defensive midfielder.

On the back line, Grimaldo, Guevadiol, Ramos and Trippier lined up.

The starting goalkeeper is still Sommer.

The visiting team Liverpool also fielded a 433 starting lineup today.

Nunez, Gakpo and Salah form the three forwards.

Young players Bajcetic and Henderson played as double central midfielders, with Fabinho falling back.

On the defensive line, Van Dijk and Joe Gomez formed a double central defender, with Robertson on the left and Arnold on the right.

Starting goalkeeper Alisson.

The injuries of Diego, Diaz and Konate mean that Liverpool is still unable to field all their main players in a difficult situation.

After putting together such a starting lineup, Klopp’s only central players who can be regarded as backup are basically Jota, Elliott and Matip.

Among them, only Jota is worthy of Klopp’s important task, Elliott is too young, his physical defects are too obvious, and Matip is too old.

Even if Klopp has more tactical routines and back-ups, without corresponding players to execute them, he cannot compete with Li Chen in terms of the richness of tactical arrangements.

It is equivalent to him using this starting lineup to fight Li Chenming to the end.

As for Henderson and Fabinho, two Liverpool midfielders whose abilities have declined significantly this season, Li Chen has also carefully prepared a tactical package for them.

As soon as the game started, Newcastle launched a fierce and alternative high-pressure attack on Liverpool.

The ferocity was directed at Liverpool’s midfielder’s ball organization, but the alternative was that naturally such pressure and pressing did not extend to Liverpool’s back line.

This allows Newcastle’s high pressure to be very targeted without putting too much pressure on their own defense.

The only ones who felt uncomfortable were Henderson and Fabinho, but the ball-receiving and passing points of Liverpool’s defense were still functioning normally.

With Robertson and Arnold taking turns to pass the ball from the flanks or inside, Liverpool’s organization and conduct of the ball in the midfield and backcourt did not have any major problems.

The difficulty lies in passing the ball forward. If the midfielder cannot pass the ball vertically, the three forwards in front can only actively switch positions and retreat in order to establish passing connections with the two fullbacks.

Otherwise, they can only rely on Van Dijk or Alisson to make long passes directly to Gakpo or Nunez.

Compared with long passes, ground passes are obviously more stable and accurate.

So it was a helpless solution. The two young forwards, Nunez and Gakpo, had to make sacrifices and run a little further to retreat and get the ball.

However, Newcastle’s oppressive defense continued, and Liverpool’s forwards, lacking the passing and running coordination with their midfield teammates, found it difficult to make any moves in Newcastle’s flank area.

They were like a flock of sheep being chased and driven by a sheepdog, and were forced to go to the wing to get the ball.

But the space on the wing is too narrow.

Nunez and Salah either successfully completed the breakthrough and passed the ball to create threats, or were deprived of the ball by Newcastle’s double-team.

But the probability of success of the former is obviously too low, and the latter is the normal result of Liverpool’s hard attack on Newcastle’s defense.

Once Newcastle steals the ball, they will immediately launch a quick passing counterattack.

Henderson and Fabinho’s covering and sweeping abilities have declined, allowing Maddison and Guimarães to more easily complete the transition from offense to defense and advance the ball.

Anthony Gordon, who made his first appearance at St. James’ Park since his transfer, quickly became Newcastle’s biggest weapon in the counterattack!
Because this kid dribbles the ball so fast!

But today Liverpool was unwilling to just set up a bus to defend, and insisted on pressing forward and attacking actively, which gave Anthony Gordon more room to speed up.

With the constant support of Newcastle’s strong midfield, Anthony Gordon only needed to focus on a one-on-one battle with Robertson after easily getting rid of Bajcetic.

Anthony Gordon, who is still relatively young, is not able to break through to the point of igniting Robertson.

However, his frequent attacks on the ball and the greater threat of cutting inside to shoot still made it quite difficult for Robertson to defend, and he often had to call on his teammates for help in defense.

At this time, no matter whether Fabinho or Van Dijk shifts their defensive attention towards Robertson, Newcastle can seize the opportunity to quickly attack Liverpool’s weak defensive side!

Anthony Gordon’s problem of sticking to the ball when he was at Everton has been completely improved when he came to Newcastle.

Now he is just an unknown player in Newcastle. In terms of fame and status, there are many stars in the Newcastle team who rank ahead of him.

Another thing is that the newly knighted Li Chen now has too much intimidation for British players.

It was so big that Anthony Gordon had no intention of refutating Li Chen’s tactical instructions.

At this moment, he was like a good student on the court. After a successful breakthrough, he passed the ball without any hesitation and did not dare to delay the team’s offensive system.

Li Chen sat in the coaching seat and nodded with satisfaction.

I think the beating I put on Anthony Gordon in the past two weeks was not in vain.

This kid is very talented and now has good practical ability, which happens to be the explosive point on the wing that Newcastle lacks.

It’s just that he used to have a bad temper, at least that’s what Li Chen thought based on the media’s reports.

Without giving this kid a warning and letting him realize his current position in the team, Li Chen would not be able to entrust him with important tasks right away.

It now seems that the coaching staff has done a pretty good job in training the team.

As long as Anthony Gordon can continue to perform like this on the field, Newcastle’s offensive rhythm will be sharper and there will be more offensive changes.

Li Chen will naturally give him more playing time in the future to help him grow.

As long as he is obedient, he will not lack opportunities to show his abilities under Li Chen.

Many English fans who follow Anthony Gordon are now gradually feeling relieved after seeing his good performance at St. James’ Park.

It’s just a pity for Fabinho. Not only was he targeted by Newcastle in the midfield today, but he also had to frequently clean up the mess for his teammates on the defensive end.

In the 19th minute of the first half, it was because he left the defensive zone to assist Arnold in double-teaming Anthony Gordon that Guimaraes, who came in from behind, had ample space to take a long shot!
Guimaraes’ long-range shot was powerful enough that Alisson dared not take any risks and could only block the ball with both palms!

At this moment, Havertz, who was concentrating on observing the rebound path of the ball in the middle of the penalty area, was surprisingly preparing to complete the follow-up shot.

But the next second, a force coming from the side and rear made him fall directly onto the grass in Liverpool’s penalty area!
Li Chen looked at Gomez, who almost used the “Iron Mountain Leaning” move to knock Havertz down, and he did not reach out to the referee to ask for a penalty at the first time.

But I wonder if Gomez has a brain short circuit?

Havertz hasn’t even touched the ball yet, why are you in such a hurry to knock him down?

Besides, your goalkeeper Alisson has already made a quick move, maybe he can get the ball into his arms before Havertz?

Li Chen really couldn’t guess what Gomez was thinking at that moment.

At this moment, Klopp, who was not far from him, was so angry about Gomez’s criminal behavior that he didn’t want to say anything.

There was no suspense at all. Gomez, who used a powerful shot to knock Havertz down in the penalty area, received a yellow card.

All the Newcastle players on the field were smiling.

Ronaldo also calmly faced Alisson and scored the penalty, helping the team take the lead!
After the surprise, Li Chen couldn’t help shaking his head as he looked at Van Dijk, who was obviously helpless and had to comfort Gomez.

Matip is old, Konate has too many injuries, and Van Dijk has a hard time too, he has to bring some teammates who are like Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Young around him from time to time…

If the defensive problem is not solved soon, there is no chance that Liverpool can achieve any results.

He originally thought that Klopp would carefully adjust the team’s tactics.

After all, the problems in the midfield cannot be solved, and Gomez on the back line exploded prematurely. Liverpool’s current situation does not look like it can fight Newcastle to the end.

But, Klopp is Klopp after all.

He asked the players on the field to continue to maintain the offensive rhythm of pressing forward without any hesitation!
“This is crazy. Doesn’t Klopp know that we are best at playing fast counterattacks at this pace?”

Carrick muttered in confusion.

Li Chen did not give him a reply, but looked again with complicated eyes at the man who was now sitting in the Liverpool coaching seat.

On his unshaven and tired face, only his eyes always sparkled with an angry fire that refused to surrender.

“You want to preserve Liverpool and the ambitions of the global team in this way, but what is the price of successful reconstruction? Jurgen.”

　The status is very scattered. I will make up for it tomorrow. Yesterday’s update will be made up.

　
(End of this chapter)