That night, Benitez found Zhang Tiehan and explained the "three cores" tactics to him. ()

This is the first time for Zhang Tiehan to study the coach's one-on-one tactics. He listened very seriously and roughly understood the coach's meaning, which is to let himself run more and pass more in the game, and his position was moved away from the forward line and adjusted to the front midfielder.

Zhang Tiehan didn't care about the point behind, and it was nothing to retreat. He played as a midfielder when he was in Manchester United youth team, and his personal ability and position were not limited to the striker at all.

But ahead...more passes and catches?

What this means is that he will use passes and catches more to find opportunities in the future, rather than to charge by himself. This is a change. Zhang Tiehan also understands that this is a good change. After all, relying on himself to charge is no different from when he was in Rome. When he was playing against world-class teams, he was always alone in the frontcourt, and all his teammates retreated to defend. That feeling really wasn't very good.

Only by increasing passes and receiving can the team be prevented from being suppressed by the opponent as a whole.

But can you do it yourself?

Zhang Tiehan didn't know, but Benitez said, "Zhang, I have been observing your performance for several days. I found that you have the potential to be the core of the midfield. Your passes and receptions are very good, especially with short passes, they play very accurately, and their skills have improved very quickly. Sometimes your body's agility surprised me... Maybe you used to think that you were playing football with your body, but in fact, your skills can be not weaker than your body. If you can do it, then I have no doubt that you will become a world superstar, just like Beckenbauer, like Maradona..."

Zhang Tiehan was moved.

Benitez said so, what doubts do he have? It’s not that he believes in Benitez. It’s that he believes in himself!

Although his body is an advantage, now with new ancient power, his movements have become very sensitive, and his personal skills have improved very quickly. With the ability to control and grasp the body, his starting point is something that others can only look up to. If this is not enough to adapt to the core position of the midfield, and he cannot use passes and catches to drive the team and find opportunities, he might as well give up on professional players.

"Sir." Zhang Tiehan looked at Benitez with a firm look on his face, "I can do it!"

Benitez smiled.

...

Next, Zhang Tiehan began to increase his cooperation with his teammates. He participated in every tactical training of the team and also participated in various cooperation training. He also exchanged some experiences of cooperation with Gerald and Alonso in private. He used his best efforts to hope that he could make rapid progress in this area.

But there is not much time left.

On August 13, the first round of the Premier League began, and Liverpool rushed to challenge Middlesbrough away.

Before the game, many reporters came to interview, and Benitez revealed his ambition this season, "We are the European champions, and we also want to become the champions of England."

This statement is very exciting.

But more media believe that it is still very difficult for Liverpool to do it. If they can do it, the surprising level will not be less than that of last season's Champions League miracle.

Liverpool is one of the most worthy teams to watch. The lineup has changed a lot in the summer, and they bought the outstanding Zhang Tiehan. Benitez's ability also makes their future worth looking forward to. However, compared with the stable and powerful Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal, which have competed for Britain in the past 10 years, Liverpool has just embarked on the road to revival, and the prospect of a one-step success is not favored by the media.

Last season, Liverpool performed very differently in European and domestic leagues.

The Daily Telegraph said, "How to perform more stably when facing Premier League opponents, especially improving away results, is a problem that Benitez needs to solve."

Regardless of the media's comments, the match between Liverpool and Middlesbrough has been played normally.

Middlesbrough's most eye-catching job in the summer is to strengthen the front line. They introduced Portsmouth's Yakub for a price of 7.5 million, so that coach McLaren will no longer worry about Hasselbaink's age (33 years old) and Viduka's injury. With the return of Macarone (returned on loan) and Christie (recovered from injury), Miburg's forward line has already initially achieved the level of competing with strong teams.

However, MiBorg lost the best team in the team last season, and the introduction of Pogates was even more a failure. After joining MiBorg, the latter had to be in the surveillance for 6 months. Obviously, McLaren was not very informative before making the decision, and he made greater mistakes than Benitez.

Cenden came to Liverpool in the summer. He is obviously the least popular player among Middlesbrough fans, but Cenden still started in this game, and his ability is unquestionable. Especially against his old club, Benitez cannot prevent Cenden from playing unless he hopes not to play.

After the game started, Mibao's defense was very tight and Liverpool was helpless.

They were more strict with Zhang Tiehan's point defense. After Zhang Tiehan appeared, he even felt like he was trapped in a quagmire. Whenever he wanted to find an opportunity, he would find that there were always Middlesbrough players around him, and more than one. This was obviously the defense that Middlesbrough arranged against him.

Today's Premier League teams, even all teams that may encounter Liverpool, have learned a lot about Zhang Tiehan, because Zhang Tiehan's goal last season was too crazy. If they play against Liverpool, they must defend Zhang Tiehan's point, otherwise the game will not be possible.

Faced with this kind of target, Zhang Tiehan was prepared, but Middlesbrough's defense was indeed done well, and it was very difficult for him to find opportunities.

Then Zhang Tiehan decided to try the 'new tactics'.

He retreated a little later and began to cooperate with his teammates in a constant pass and receiving manner. Whenever the football reached his feet and it was difficult to break through Middlesbrough’s defense by himself, he would pass the ball to Gerald or Alonso, or others. The three significantly increased the number of passes and receiving times, and for a while, Liverpool’s passes and receiving increased a lot.

But the actual effect is not great.

After all, the team has not adapted to the new tactics, especially Zhang Tiehan. He is the most important part of the new tactics offense. He has not adapted to it yet, and it is no problem to pass and receive the ball with his teammates, but it is easy to find opportunities for how to pass. It is very difficult to grasp this point after passing.

So Liverpool's offense kicked a little confused.

Many passes and catches are just a waste of time, but Zhang Tiehan still did this. He wanted to find the feeling of a real game, instead of training all the time and using real games to adapt himself to the tactics. That was really great.

As a result, Liverpool did not find a good opportunity in halftime, and Zhang Tiehan's own performance was really terrible. He didn't even shoot once in the whole first half.

Fortunately, Middlesbrough did not perform well. They kept defending and did not cooperate with each other in a limited number of attacks. The two teams' games were really not very interesting, which made the fans in the audience a little drowsy.

During the halftime break, the live commentator also said, "Liverpool played a little bit insincere today. You know, just three days ago, they defeated Sofia CSKA in Bulgaria 7-0, but today they seem to be two teams three days ago."

At the same time, he also criticized Middlesbrough, believing that the latter was too conservative.

In the visiting team's locker room, Benitez talked about the first half and asked Zhang Tiehan to return to the 'normal state' to play. "I know you are eager to adapt to the new tactics. But the team also needs victory. The purpose of my tactics is to make the team stronger, and if the team is stronger, you can win more victory. But the purpose of everything is still victory."

"Sorry. Coach."

Zhang Tiehan apologized. He knew that he was a little anxious. After all, tactical adaptation cannot be completed in one or two days. Moreover, what he had to adapt was a position he had never played before, which would take a lot of time.

Liverpool rebuilds morale in the second half and plays with Middlesbrough again.

Middlesbrough still plays defensive counterattacks, and they play quite conservatively. After all, it is the first round of the league. Any team wants to have a good start. If they attack rashly, they might as well defend the goal to get a draw. The first round of the league is still acceptable. If they lose the game, it will have a great impact on the next league and will have a great blow to the team's morale.

But when Zhang Tiehan becomes the striker again, it will be difficult for Middlesbrough to stabilize the defense.

Zhang Tiehan used his strength to continuously attack Middlesbrough's defense, which made Middlesbrough's formation a little chaotic in the opening stage of the second half.

So five minutes later, Gerald got the opportunity in the middle and passed the ball to Alonso. Alonso inserted the ball and passed it straight into the penalty area. Cice, who started the game, grabbed the point and shot the goal.

The score became 0:1, and Liverpool gained an advantage.

This was also the only goal in the whole game. In the later game, Middlesbrough re-stabilized the formation. Zhang Tiehan always wanted to find opportunities, but unfortunately, the opponent's defense was too strict. It was too difficult for him to rely on his ability to break through the opponent's defense line.

Other Liverpool players have not found a good opportunity. Middlesbrough is not a weak team after all. Their defense is very stable. Relying on the iron barrel formation and position, they can place very effective restrictions on their half-court.

At this time, Zhang Tiehan also realized the importance of cooperating with his teammates.

When he was in Rome, he often relied on his own ability to score goals, especially when playing against strong teams, Rome was suppressed, and the opponent's offensive formation was very high. If it was normal to advance the offense, it would be very difficult for him to score goals based on his personal ability.

That's what the game is now.

Liverpool is better, but his opponents are not weak. When the opponent defends with all his strength, it is too difficult to find opportunities. Moreover, all opponents now attach great importance to his defense. Even if Benitez does not change his tactics, he must adapt to the cooperation with his teammates.

Only by using cooperation to tear open the opponent's defense line is the simplest and most effective method.

After the game, the media scored Zhang Tiehan with a score of '6', which just passed the exam. Alonso's score was '7.5'. Relying on the direct pass assist that broke through the defense, he also became the best player in the game.

This is Zhang Tiehan's first Premier League game. (To be continued, please search for Piaotianwen, the novel is better, updated and faster!
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