On August 5, Liverpool's third round opponent in the Champions League qualifiers was released, with the Sofia CSKA from Bulgaria.

Sofia CSKA is a very famous club in Bulgaria. They dominated Bulgaria for many years and won thirty league titles in the fifty-seven years after the club was established.

Sofia CSKA remained the Bulgarian League champion last season, so they qualified for the Champions League qualifiers.

The first leg of the two teams will start on August 11, when Liverpool will go to Bulgaria to challenge Sofia CSKA away.

Before the war started, Benitez was considering the team's tactical issues.

He didn't care much about this issue at first. In fact, he thought that Liverpool's tactics were already good before. Zhang Tiehan could replace Barrosh with the point that he could become an important scoring point for the team. However, he never thought about Liverpool's wing support, nor did he expect that Zhang Tiehan's personal ability was so strong.

This is a good thing.

But if you want Zhang Tiehan to fully display his strength, you have to give him enough room to play. Obviously, Liverpool's wing is not qualified in this regard, and Benitez also wants to adjust the wing, but the funds in the summer are not enough to allow him to buy excellent wing players. He has considered introducing some outdated stars, such as Luis Figo, but unfortunately Figo chose Inter Milan in the end.

Benitez knew that at least his team didn't have to think about having excellent wing players before winter.

The wing is Liverpool's weakness, and its defense is OK, but its offensive ability is completely insufficient, which also makes the wing insufficient support to the middle, and there should be less long passes and lobs. As a center forward standing in the penalty area, if there is enough support from the wing, it will be difficult to exert its strength.

Then all problems can only be solved from the middle.

The team's middle lane is very strong. The combination of Gerald and Alonso is definitely world-class, not inferior to the middle lane of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea, but at the same time, these two are the core of the team and occupy too much space in the middle lane.

They will be strictly guarded by the opponent and their offensive position will be very high. Only in this way can they exert the power of the combination of Gerald and Alonso.

Then Zhang Tiehan’s problem arises.

He doesn't have enough space, or it's difficult for him to receive many passes in the game. Even if there is a pass, it will be in a very front or back position, which is not suitable for him to play at all.

The team's midfield is centered on Gerald.

Alonso is Gerald's best partner. The combination of two people drives the entire team. They are like two engines, which can drive the entire team, whether it is offense or defense. They can show their power together.

The team is very active in any position, but only these two people cannot move... It is not that they cannot move, they just move the whole body, let alone the core combination of two engines.

Do you have to move?

How to do it?

Benitez sat in the office, thinking about the tactical board. Many times he was like this. The team was training in the training ground, while he was sitting in the office. If someone didn't know, he thought Benitez was lazy. But in fact, everyone in Liverpool knew that he was simply a workaholic and it was difficult to understand that kind of workaholic. Sometimes, he would even stare at the tactical board all day long. He just stared at it, stared at it, and kept moving, and would forget to have lunch.

Benitez has been in this state these days.

The tactical board was completely occupied by lines, and suddenly it looked like a dense spider web. I couldn't see what it was, but Benitez just stared at it, occasionally adding a line up. He wouldn't even make a mistake, for fear that the mistake would interrupt his thinking.

"Two engines...one excellent shooter...one forward...there is excellent shooter, excellent shooter..."

Benitez kept muttering.

He suddenly thought of something, opened his eyes wide, drew two circles on the board in his hand, and then his face flashed with excitement and a hint of suspicion.

"Is this OK? Zhang? Can he do it?"

"If he can do it, then Liverpool will not be weaker than Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal... No, it is stronger than them! But Zhang..." Benitez kept muttering, he thought of a solution, but he didn't know whether this would work.

He let out a long sigh and stood up.

This is the only way he thought of, or the only way, but it is difficult to achieve it. He needs more observations on whether it can be realized.

...

Zhang Tiehan didn't know what Benitez was thinking, but he was in a good mood, because before playing in Bulgaria, Benitez announced the match list and he would start in the game.

This is the first time.

He played in the first two games as a substitute Barros. Although he knew that the head coach had a kind heart and let him take the bench, even if he didn't perform well on the bench, Zhang Tiehan had long been used to the pressure. He hoped to start and now he could finally start.

His partner is Morientes, a very experienced senior.

In the hearts of European fans, Morientes is not a very outstanding world-class star. This may be related to his experience. Morientes' career has been experiencing shocks and sluggishness. Perhaps what he remembers the most is the experience of Real Madrid.

He first debuted at Albacete Club and played there for two years, with a total of 22 games in those two seasons and five goals.

Afterwards, Morientes transferred to Zaragoza and became famous in just two seasons. In the league, Morientes played 66 games and scored 28 goals, and was known as the most promising young player. His outstanding performance in Zaragoza impressed Capello, then head coach of Real Madrid, and transferred to Real Madrid in 1997.

Then the unforgettable Real Madrid career began...

When Morientes came to Real Madrid, Capello, who was appointed as his captain, left Real Madrid. Under the new coach Heinkes, Morientes is the substitute in the team, wearing the No. 15 jersey, but he still scored 12 goals in the season as a substitute, winning the recognition of Real Madrid fans. In the season, Real Madrid won the Champions League championship, Morientes, who was in the first year of his arrival in Real Madrid, won the highest honor of the European club, the Champions League championship with the team.

In the following season, with Suk and Mijatovic leaving the team, Morientes became the main striker of Real Madrid, changing to wear the No. 9 jersey, which symbolized Real Madrid's main striker, formed a forward partner with Raul, scoring more than 30 goals, and performed well. Even Anelka's sky-high joining in the middle could not shake Morientes' main position. In 2000, Morientes helped Real Madrid win the Champions League championship.

Unfortunately, in 2000, after Florentino became the new chairman of Real Madrid, Morientes' position in the team began to change.

Florentino transferred to Figo at a high price, once again squeezed Morientes to the bench. In addition, during this period, Morientes fell into a goal drought, Morientes entered a career low. But in the game between Real Madrid and Las Palmas in early 2002, Morientes won five yuan alone, announcing his strong recovery and won the Champions League championship for the third time that year.

But in the second half of 2002, in order to welcome Ronaldo's arrival, Morientes once again took the bench.

In 2003, Real Madrid made the decision to abandon Morientes. Morientes was no longer in glory and was loaned to the French Ligue 1 Monaco. There, Morientes gradually found the feeling of scoring from misfortune again. He regained his vitality and became the absolute core of the team.

Soon Morientes perfectly explained to people the meaning of "tree moving to death, people moving to life", and became one of the few players in the Spanish national team who won the main position with their overseas performance in recent years.

In the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Monaco encountered Real Madrid. It was Morientes' goal that helped Monaco eliminate Real Madrid, which undoubtedly gave Real Madrid a loud slap. Although Monaco finally lost to Porto in the final and finished second, Morientes won the honor of the Champions League top scorer with nine goals and spent the most exciting European experience.

Morientes used his performance to show the meaning of ‘As long as I give me a chance, I can perform well’.

Real Madrid seemed to have discovered this, but Morientes was recalled to Real Madrid again. However, at this time, Real Madrid introduced another striker Michael Irving, which made Morientes, who returned to Real Madrid, sit on the bench for the third time.

Finally, during the winter transfer period last year, Morientes transferred to Premier League Liverpool for £6.3 million.

Morientes may no longer be able to bear the fate of performing well but has been reduced to a substitute. This is also the reason why Morientes is not very famous in Europe. He has the strength, but he is always arranged by Real Madrid on the bench. His best career in a few years is wasted on the bench.

He helped Real Madrid win three European championships, but he could only accept the fate of being abandoned.

Fate is a mess...

When he came to Liverpool, he was twenty-nine years old. Morientes, who is now thirty years old, was reused by Benitez. He hopes to revive the 'another spring' of his career in Liverpool.

Zhang Tiehan still has some understanding of this partner. He has known Liverpool's outstanding players before, so he naturally knows Morientes and the difficulties of his career.

It was Real Madrid that "created" all this.

Zhang Tiehan still trusts Morientes' strength very much. His daily training has proven a lot of things. Morientes has a lot of things for him to learn, such as experience, some on-site reactions, and the ability to capture opportunities.

Morientes is also very important for their partner.

In terms of tactical arrangement, Zhang Tiehan appeared as the second forward, that is, the shadow forward, while Morientes was the real first forward and center.

Although he doesn't understand Benitez's position very well, Zhang Tiehan is not inconsistent with this arrangement. His position is retreating a little, which makes it easier for him and his teammates to pass and receive the ball. The number of times he gets the ball will definitely increase, so he will have more opportunities.

...

In the locker room before the game, Benitez made the final arrangements.

He emphasized Zhang Tiehan.

"We need to pass more to Zhang, and play with Zhang as the core in the frontcourt." Benitez said to Gerald and Alonso, giving Zhang Tiehan more opportunities to pass the ball. After emphasizing this, Benitez said to Zhang Tiehan, "Zhang, your task is to play freely, do you understand?"

"Understand, sir, Boss, boss!"

Zhang Tiehan was very happy after hearing this.

Benitez's words meant giving him the core position and giving him the right to fire freely. This is an extremely rare opportunity. Before the game began, he was already looking forward to it.

Gerald and others did not conflict.

They know what Benitez is going to do. Zhang Tiehan has just joined the team. He has transferred to the top price of £29 million. The team cannot let him play as a substitute. He has not been in the team for a long time. Maybe the coach wants to understand his strength through real games.

After Benitez finished speaking, Zhang Tiehan turned to his teammates and shouted, "Everyone pass the ball to me if you have the chance! Don't worry, I will use the goal to make them desperate!"

"Hahaha……"

Everyone laughed.

After a period of contact, they already understood Zhang Tiehan's personality. He spoke very straightforwardly and confidently... Maybe he should say that he would not be humble at all, which made many people wonder--Didn't it mean that Chinese people like humility?

Why can’t you tell Zhang Tiehan at all?

If someone who doesn’t know him, perhaps all he can see is confidence... It sounds nice to say, but it should be said that confidence is a bit arrogant!
Chapter completed!