Lin Hai Ting Tao

Chapter 758 Various Maladjustments (Third Update, Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Liverpool's entire team showed their lack of adaptation to the new tactics in every aspect of the game, not just the attack. They also felt awkward in defense because the team now required them to advance in layers when attacking, so more players would press forward during the attack. This meant they were slower to retreat on defense, and when the opponent launched a quick attack, the defensive line would face great pressure due to a lack of personnel.

Moreover, after the absence of Gerrard and Lucas, Liverpool's midfield defense already had problems, often allowing the opponent to directly face the central defenders, putting a lot of pressure on Škrtel and Agger.

So the home team, Queens Park Rangers, scored first.

In the twenty-first minute, Shaun Derry scored the opening goal for the team.

After taking the lead, Queens Park Rangers became even more energetic, frequently launching attacks to threaten Liverpool's goal. Liverpool's attack, however, showed no signs of improvement.

The players still weren't used to the new tactics, and they often couldn't help but want to play long balls. By the time they realized this wasn't a good idea, they had already missed the opportunity to do anything else.

Therefore, Liverpool's attack looked very awkward to outsiders, as if the whole team was out of sorts.

And Chen Hero's performance today was also very strange. More than twenty minutes into the game, he hadn't had a single header. Not only did he not have a header shot, but he didn't even attempt a header. Sometimes he jumped up, but at the crucial moment, he shrank his neck, causing the ball to be headed by the opposing player or fly directly over his head.

If it were in a previous game, Chen Hero would have had at least ten headers by this point. His headers were truly Liverpool's scoring weapon, and Liverpool would make full use of his heading ability.

This shows how frequent Chen Hero's headers had been. It's no wonder Dr. Bruckner advised him to use headers less often...

His heading completely exceeded the normal frequency for players, and in the long run, it was likely to cause problems.

However, habit is powerful. Although Chen Hero had vowed not to use headers to compete for the top scorer title, he would still reflexively jump up to contest a header. It was only after he jumped that he remembered he couldn't use his head, so he had to shrink his neck.

His performance was incomprehensible to many, not just the fans and commentators watching the game, but even his opponents couldn't figure out what was wrong with Chen Hero today.

As the tallest person in the defensive line, one meter eighty-eight central defender Onuoha was responsible for defending Chen Hero in this game.

Before the game, this task made him feel a lot of pressure. Because now all of England knew how troublesome it was to defend Chen Hero. Even those top defenders might not be able to stop him, could he do it?

Defending Chen Hero had now become a kind of punishment, because if the team lost the game and Chen Hero scored a goal, then the player responsible for defending him would definitely be blamed by the media and fans. In the end, he would almost certainly be held responsible for the loss...

So at the start of the game, when the ball flew towards him and Chen Hero, you can imagine how nervous he was...

But his reaction quickly turned to – "Huh?"

He was surprised, why didn't that giant bear look scary at all today?

Several times in the header contests, he either won directly, or even if he didn't get to the ball, he didn't let Chen Hero get to it either.

This was completely unlike Chen Hero's level! His heading technique was now recognized as the best in the Premier League.

Onuoha thought he would be lucky to interfere with him a little, but he didn't expect to completely crush Chen Hero...

"Hero's success rate in header contests today is... zero percent! Yes, this number surprises us. He hasn't won a single header in this game..." the commentator said in surprise.

No one knew why Chen Hero suddenly became so weak in the air. He had a head-shrinking action when contesting headers. Does this indicate something? Was there a problem with Chen Hero's own condition, or was it an intentional arrangement by Dalglish? No one could say for sure.

And what surprised them even more was that Chen Hero not only stopped doing things like heading the ball in the frontcourt, but he even deliberately missed scoring opportunities in the penalty area. Adam Johnson once gave him a cross from the wing, a high ball. If Chen Hero jumped up, it shouldn't be difficult to head the ball, although it was hard to say whether it would go in... but Chen Hero unexpectedly chose the most difficult approach. He turned, leaned back, and jumped up for a bicycle kick!

Because the timing and the trajectory of the ball were completely wrong, Chen Hero made this move clumsily and didn't touch the ball at all.

Some imaginative fans, after seeing Chen Hero's performance, even thought Chen Hero was involved in match-fixing and bet on his own team to lose... Otherwise, how could they explain his strange performance in this game?

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Kristin Cabella, who was watching the live broadcast at home in Liverpool, heard the commentators wondering about Chen Hero's performance. They speculated on many possibilities, but none of them hit the mark. But that's right, ordinary people really can't associate heading with concussion...

Cabella muttered in her heart, "Go, Hero!"

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Liverpool equalized the score in the second half, but the goal was not scored by Chen Hero. It was Škrtel.

Although Chen Hero didn't score, this goal still had his contribution. Although Chen Hero couldn't use headers, his heading could still play a role in set pieces... That was to have Chen Hero attract the attention of the opposing defenders, creating space for other teammates to come in from behind. Škrtel's goal was headed in this way.

In fact, this could also be done in open play. However, in order to get the team to adapt to the new tactics as soon as possible, Dalglish forcibly set the requirement of "no high crosses."

Otherwise, if the team got used to relying on this style of play, who knows when they would be able to change their habits back?

Dalglish wasn't worried that after he left, the team's tactics would revert to the old ways. Because Niang was also there at the time, and as Chen Hero's friend, he certainly wouldn't want Chen Hero to get a concussion and become demented because of frequent heading, right? So their selection of a coach would definitely take this factor into consideration.

Škrtel's equalizer gave Liverpool hope for a while.

But Queens Park Rangers today were like they'd been injected with stimulants. They didn't have many attacking opportunities, but their efficiency was high.

And Liverpool didn't pass high balls, but they did! Queens Park Rangers had a typical traditional English style of play: long passes and crosses, heading in the middle.

In the seventy-seventh minute, they cooperated on the edge of Liverpool's penalty area. Taiwo crossed, and Cissé easily jumped up and headed the ball in the middle with almost no one defending him. Because the distance was too close, Reina had almost no reaction, and the ball flew past him into the goal.

"Damn it!" Dalglish was very dissatisfied with the team's defense on the sidelines. He only modified the team's attacking tactics, he didn't touch the defense at all, and both goals were scored by the opponent with headers. He was very dissatisfied with the aerial defense of the team's central defenders.

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Chen Hero didn't perform well, but Suárez was very eye-catching. His dribbling and speed caused some trouble for Queens Park Rangers in the second half.

And in the eighty-sixth minute, after a series of dazzling dribbles in front of the penalty area, he broke into the penalty area and shot. After the ball was blocked by the goalpost, it fell to Charlie Adam's feet. Adam shot directly from a distance, and the ball was saved by Queens Park Rangers' goalkeeper Kenny and bounced out.

Kuyt, who had been lurking in the penalty area, followed up with a sliding tackle and put the ball in.

The score became 2:2.

Dalglish breathed a sigh of relief.

For the team to play like this in this game, a draw was already a good result.

But this game was destined not to belong to the poorly performing Liverpool.

Queens Park Rangers took the lead in the ninetieth minute. This time, Agger made a mistake in the backcourt and failed to kick the ball, allowing the opponent's pass to slip through his legs, creating a one-on-one opportunity for Jamie Mackie, who came on as a substitute in the second half.

This time, Reina still didn't make a save, and the ball rolled past him into the far corner of the goal. Reina was helpless with the performance of the team's defense. Such a ball... it was really difficult for him to handle.

The score was finally fixed at 3:2, with Queens Park Rangers defeating Liverpool at home.

Chen Hero had almost no highlights in this game, and his score after the game was also the lowest in the team.

Reporters had many questions they wanted to ask him, but they didn't catch Chen Hero in the mixed zone. Chen Hero directly ignored the reporters' interview requests and hurried back to the locker room. Reporters could only see from his face that he was in a bad mood. This was the only thing they could make a big fuss about after the game.

Since they couldn't ask Chen Hero, they would ask Dalglish!

Reporters flocked to the post-match press conference.

Dalglish refused to answer this question. He still took the blame for the loss on himself: "My preparations were not sufficient. I didn't expect Queens Park Rangers to be so strong at home... They deserved this victory. We lost focus in the last few minutes. We could have gotten a draw... It's a pity, that's football. Until the last second, you never know what the result will be... Hero? He's fine, very good. There's no problem at all, but a player's condition always fluctuates. You can't expect one person to perform very well throughout the entire season..."

As a result, reporters still didn't know what exactly happened to Chen Hero.

I believe that after this game, this question will become the focus of everyone's speculation and discussion...