"Leo Lin has been placed right in the center of Watford's tornado. This pressing style from Watford is making things look a little dangerous for Rodri."
"Playing as a lone defensive midfielder is already risky in itself. Rodri has improved, but that role is still a test for him."
"Rodri carries the ball and quickly passes to a teammate. Alexander-Arnold's touch isn't comfortable, and that gives Pereyra a chance to press!"
When Alexander-Arnold controlled the ball, his positioning was off. He had wanted to take it toward the right, but a small mistake meant he brought it closer to Pereyra instead.
Then, in the eyes of the fans, Watford's pressing runs seemed to turn into a visible tornado. Gray and Pereyra were the head of it, with Deeney and Will Hughes following behind, immediately cutting off Alexander-Arnold's passing lanes.
Alexander-Arnold had no choice but to go long. His clearance smashed into Pereyra and bounced out for a throw-in, which was the only reason he avoided losing the ball.
"Watford's defensive approach has actually caused Liverpool's passing success rate to drop sharply."
"Alexander-Arnold really hasn't been in great form recently. Joe Gomez has kept him on the bench for the past three matches. This was not an easy chance for him to get back into the starting lineup, so Alexander-Arnold needs to make the most of it."
Scholes and Alexander-Arnold were both English players, so of course he hoped Alexander-Arnold would perform better. Ashley Cole felt the same way.
The FA Cup semifinal continued, and Watford once forced Liverpool's overall passing success rate below 80%.
It was not just Alexander-Arnold. Robertson also began making frequent passing mistakes, which was completely different from what Zubizarreta had expected before the match.
He had originally thought the two fullbacks would be under the least pressure, because Watford had not even started any wingers.
In the end, the two fullbacks were actually under the most pressure. Watford were not placing the base of their tornado straight down the middle of Liverpool's formation. Instead, according to the direction of Gray's press, they kept moving the base from left to right, then from right to left. Their pressure through the middle was actually not that strong.
Zubizarreta had made a slight error in judging the defensive tactics, which meant Liverpool did not crush Watford with their strength from the opening whistle as the fans had imagined. Instead, their back line was shaking, and their shape looked unstable.
In the 29th minute!
"Watford's defensive approach still hasn't changed. This is one of the most uncomfortable matches I've ever seen Salah play."
"Before this season, he was always able to make an impact out wide, but now both he and Shaqiri have gone quiet."
"Solanke's weaknesses have been magnified. His finishing is decent, but he doesn't have Firmino's ability to keep the ball under pressure. If he holds on to it for even slightly too long, he might be tackled!"
Leo Lin did not feel much of a threat in the middle, but without support from the wings, it became very difficult to force the game open through the center alone.
Doucouré, in particular, was not facing Leo Lin for the first time.
Back when Leo Lin made his debut, he had already left a deep impression on Doucouré. Later, at the U-17 World Cup, Doucouré had also felt Leo Lin's terror. But in this match, Doucouré had learned his lesson. He and Capoue defended Leo Lin together.
If they could not stop him, they fouled him. Once Leo Lin found shooting space, the two of them would put their strong bodies together. If they could not knock him down, could they not at least block him?
Both of them were powerful, muscular types. Put together, they were like two iron plates joined side by side, completely sealing off the shooting space in front of Leo Lin.
Although Doucouré had been battered black and blue by Leo Lin and was grimacing in pain, whenever Leo Lin still wanted to shoot from distance, he would throw himself in front of Leo Lin again, looking almost ready to sacrifice everything for Watford.
Most of the first half had already passed. Although Liverpool held the advantage through the ability of their stars, Watford's back line was not actually under much pressure. Instead, Liverpool's flanks in defense were the ones under greater strain.
Zubizarreta thought frantically about how to respond. His own mistake had to be corrected by himself.
After repeatedly watching Watford's tornado-style pressing movement and combining it with the characteristics of an actual tornado, he finally thought of it.
This tornado-like tactical shape seemed to be making both of Liverpool's flanks extremely uncomfortable, but in reality, its greatest weakness had been right in front of him all along. He had simply overlooked it. The middle.
Because at the very center of a tornado, the wind was actually relatively weak.
And as it happened, Liverpool had a player in the middle named Leo Lin, someone who could smash the eye of Watford's tornado with one punch and blast open its center with one kick.
After confirming the countermeasure, Zubizarreta immediately passed the new plan onto the pitch. Once Leo Lin received the message, he began adjusting the team's shape.
Tearing open the eye of Watford's tornado was the first step.
After the match resumed, Watford's tornado press continued to make a huge impact on both of Liverpool's flanks. But Liverpool's method of playing out from the back began to change. Instead of building through the fullbacks, they switched to direct distribution from the goalkeeper, with Alisson taking on the role of starting the play.
Alisson's timing was clever. Not too early, not too late. He waited until Watford's tornado shape had formed on the flank before releasing the ball.
In the 32nd minute!
"Robertson is about to be forced into facing Watford's press again, but this time he doesn't rush to clear it!"
Robertson waited until Pereyra was about to reach him before suddenly passing back to Alisson. After Alisson controlled the ball, the moment to release it had arrived.
The Brazilian goalkeeper used his excellent footwork to send the pass out. After Leo Lin controlled the ball, before Watford's tornado shape on the flank could break apart, he had already used his outstanding dribbling to charge toward Watford's back line.
This time, he would not give Watford another chance to rebuild their defense.
Because Pereyra and Will Hughes had pushed up to help form the tornado press in the front line, Watford's defensive midfielders were indirectly forced to face Leo Lin head-on.
And this time, Salah finally found an opening out wide.
But he was not creating a chance for himself. He was creating one for Shaqiri on the left.
Leo Lin found Shaqiri with a through ball. Capoue hurried back into the box to help defend, but the wide attack was still only Liverpool's decoy.
Solanke's movement pinned Mariappa down, and Cathcart lost his defensive target, until he saw Leo Lin appear in his own penalty area.
But by then, Cathcart's defensive moment had already slipped away.
Leo Lin had found the eye of Watford's seemingly brilliant tornado tactic, the most stable part of it, yet also the deadliest weakness.
Shaqiri's cross dropped beside Leo Lin's foot.
Leo Lin felt the air currents surging around his body. Before the tornado had time to form its most turbulent wall of wind, he raised his foot and struck.
A deadly power shot, flying straight toward the weakest eye of Watford's storm.
...
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