Nottingham Forest's late equaliser caused a huge mental shock to Liverpool, but thankfully the first half ended and gave them a chance to adjust their mood at half-time, otherwise if the game continues like this, maybe Nottingham Forest will score another goal soon.

This is no joke, as it has been proven countless times that after conceding the first goal is the most dangerous moment, and it is easy to be beaten by opponents in two consecutive games. The morale and confidence of the conceding side will be very badly damaged, and it may almost collapse outright.

Liverpool certainly won't just collapse like this, having staged numerous big comebacks in crucial games. Don knows this, too, and Benitez will be sure to sum up the first half at half-time and reassure and boost morale so that there will be no further blow in the second half.

All Done had to do was get Benitez's halftime efforts to go down the drain.

He didn't tell his people to step up the attack in the second half, but continued to play around with the opposition as he did in the first half.

Respond to change with the same. This is again the wisdom of the ancestors.

'It doesn't matter if we're ahead or behind, it's very important to defend. I believe that at the beginning of the second half, Liverpool will play with us slowly, Benitez is a 'steady' coach who will not let his team take risks easily. All of Europe knows that apart from defending, what we do best is counter-attacking and sneaking up. The goal at the end of the first half reinforced that image in their minds. This is good. Donn nodded vigorously, "Benitez won't let his team go on a blast at the start of the second half because he's afraid of our sneak attack." So at the start of the second half we were safe. As long as we hold on to this draw, as the game goes on, even if Benitez doesn't instruct them, the Liverpool players will become impatient, they won't accept the scoreline, they will want to beat us in 90 minutes. That's our chance. Remember. ”

Don raised his right index finger, "Be patient and wait for the other party to start impatient and start a large-scale attack, and then we will counterattack." Other times, it's important to defend solidly. ”

'Then, there's the set-piece. Increasing the quality of set-pieces, even if they don't score, has to pose a certain threat to the opposition and show them how strong our set-pieces are. That way, they won't dare to foul in the danger zone easily, and that's our chance. ”

The threat of set-pieces is not limited to scoring directly from set-pieces, if the opponent is afraid to give you too many set-pieces, and is afraid to foul in key positions, then it will also pose a great threat to the opponent's goal.

※※※

Unlike Nottingham Forest, Benitez didn't set up a strategy for the team at first, and as Donn thought, he was really calming people and boosting morale. Because the blow of conceding the goal at the end of the first half was really not small, after 45 minutes of hard work, it was time to enter the dressing room with the lead, and everyone was in a good mood. At the last moment, it was equalized by the opponent......

The Liverpudlians can understand the mood of their opponents who have been reversed by them repeatedly.

After reassuring people, Benitez began to set up the team's tactics for the second half.

This time, contrary to what Donn thought, the first thing he said to his players was: "Start the second half, attack." ”

Hearing this, the spirits of the Liverpool players were lifted.

"Don must have thought that we didn't dare to increase our offensive efforts and press the strong attack because we were worried about their sneak attack, and their defensive strategy was in order, and nothing would change. So, from the beginning of the second half, we increased our attack and pressed the onslaught. Disrupt their defensive rhythm and take advantage of the chaos to score again. They must not have imagined, definitely. ”

Benitez used two "definitely" and said in a rather affirmative tone. He understood that Don was very conceited, and once he had made a decision, he was determined to go to the end. If he thinks he's a steady man who doesn't take risks easily, he's going to be very adamant about it, and then use that as a basis to define the Forest's strategy.

This is a point that can be exploited.

Forest thought Liverpool would not dare to attack at full strength after the start of the second half, and they still had to retain the strength to counter-attack, so what if we attacked with all our might from the start of the second half?

"In addition to strengthening the long-range shots in the middle, the two wings pressed aggressively to suppress the Forest's wide attack. The key to victory or defeat is in the first half of the second half. I don't care what you do, I'm going to score a goal! ”

※※※

The second half of the game restarted, and the two sides changed places and fought again. The fans, who had rested for fifteen minutes, were revived and enlivened again.

Contrary to Donne's expectations, Liverpool cut off Forest's attack after kick-off, and did not play around in midfield at all, and directly played the football in front, if it were not for Kuyt's poor shooting skills and too far from the goal......

Two minutes later, Forest's attack was fruitless and Liverpool were back in the picture. Reese cut in from the second half, making a long run and a team-mate on the flank, before making a cross for Kuyt to head the ball over, but Pepe's close interference led him high.

Liverpool were on the attack, which was in line with Donne's half-time statement. The Forest's players are defending in a regular manner, and they've seen a lot of it, so there's nothing to make a fuss about.

What's more, Kuyt can play any position, but he can't be a striker, his shooting ability is too poor.

Next, it's time for Liverpool to attack and Forest to hold on.

During this period, the Forest team organized several counterattacks, but because the troops invested were not enough, they did not pose any real threat.

Liverpool are still on the attack, constantly attacking......

From the hot air of the Louis II stadium, Donn gradually smelled something wrong.

Liverpool's attack was too fierce and far exceeded his expectations. Benitez, in particular, allowed the two full-backs to press for assists frequently, as if he had no regard for Forest's counter-attacks.

It wasn't like that in the first half, no matter how Liverpool attacked, their two full-backs rarely got up front, came up once in a while, and then went back very quickly, sprinting back and forth.

Now it's good, a few times he saw Reeser go up and didn't go back at all, just waiting for an opportunity in front.

This is a complete scene of "GI overwhelming"!

Benitez is not afraid of being attacked by the Forest team in the emptiness behind him?

He turned his head to see the Spaniard sitting in the dugout, surrounded by his assistants, still seeing nothing.

He felt that things were not quite right, but how it was wrong, what impact this had on him, and what impact it had on Liverpool, he couldn't say for a while. He still needs time to observe and analyze.

Don left his seat and walked to the sidelines, his hands around his chest, and his brow furrowed to observe the situation on the court.

※※※

Gerrard was on the ball and he was across from George. Wood, the England team-mate.

The World Cup defeat is a thing of the past, Gerrard's place in the national team has not been shaken in the slightest, and McLaren trusts him. Beckham was not so lucky at Forest, who was selected for England in the final minute of last season and was left out again after picking up two games in the final minutes.

And George. Wood has also been called up to the national team every time, but has never been given a chance to start. At the World Cup, George didn't get a minute of playing time. After Erickson left, McLaren came to power, George. Wood still can't gain the manager's trust. Although he was a thunderous mainstay at Nottingham Forest, England's Rookie of the Year, last season's Premier League Homegrown Player of the Year, one of the captains of the European Champions League team, and was named in the UEFA Champions League XI of the Year. In the England national team, he still hasn't been given a chance to prove himself. Eriksen didn't give it to him, and McLaren didn't give it to him.

For the latter, some say it's because of McLaren and Tony. Donn's personal vendetta led to Wood being implicated. What is the truth? Nobody knows.

Since he is a teammate of the national team, Gerrard naturally knows how powerful Wood is, and when he was training with the national team, his defense made many people insurmountable.

Gerrard doesn't use dribbling as his forte, and he doesn't even think about it when he crosses Wood one-on-one.

His mission was simple, to draw Wood over and then pass the ball out and get rid of George with the pass. Wood's marking. There is no player in the world who can defend a team's passes, not even George, who is called a "monster" by the media. Neither can Wood.

Gerrard saw Wood pressing towards him and passed the ball out. Wood didn't follow to chase the ball, he continued to follow Gerrard. The rest of Liverpool, the rest of their own Forest team to deal with. Gerrard is Wood's target for this game.

Gerrard is not worried about being frozen, as Alonso has Alonso in the squad to organise the attack. He was seen dead, but it was just one less point of attack, and it did not mean that Liverpool's attack would be paralyzed.

His mission was to get Woodra out of the zone and then give his teammates a chance to take advantage of it.

Alonso saw Wood running with Steven Gerrard and he took the opportunity to play the ball to Torres.

Torres didn't break through from outside the box and fired a long-range shot from distance, the ball was shot off the line by Edwin van der Sar and Liverpool won a corner.

Gerrard runs to take a corner. Wood returned to goal. Although they are teammates in the national team, they have never played side by side together. In one of the few games Wood has played for his country, he has always replaced Gerrard.

Gerrard drives the ball out, and he finds Agg, but George. Wood got ahead of the Danish defender and headed it out.

Although he is not as tall as Ag, his bounce is better than Agger, and with the good card position, Ag has no chance in front of Wood.

Liverpool's attack wasn't over yet. Wood pushed the ball out, and Mascherano received the ball and took a long-range shot. The Forest's players have been repeatedly warned by Donn to be on guard. Seeing Mascherano smash his legs, Pepe pressed out as soon as possible, ready to use his body to block the opponent's shot.

But Mascherano didn't shoot straight at goal, he took advantage of Pepe's back to him and picked up the ball. The ball flew past the crowd in the box and flew to the right.

That's exactly where Gerald is!

Gerrard, who had taken a corner, had not had time to run back to the middle when he saw Mascherano pass the ball. Before receiving the ball, he looked back at the linesman behind him, and it was not offside!

After stopping the football with his chest, no one from the Forest team has had time to come up and defend. There are people in the penalty area, and Gerrard chose to pump the football vigorously towards the goal, so that if no one is in the way, he will go directly into the goal, and if someone is in the way, then there is a chance that the ** will also be blocked in the goal......

The football flew all the way to the goal, and in the meantime, no one stood in its way. Apart from...... Van der Sar was in the right place and made a timely save. Gerrard's long-range shot was powerful and impressive, and Van der Sar didn't intend to hold the ball with both hands, he wanted to hit the ball straight to the bottom line. But the ball was too fast and too powerful, and before Van der Sar's action was finished, the ball slammed into it.

The result of the unfinished toss-to-ball maneuver was Van der Sar's fall back into the goal, while the ball flew straight into the sky.

Everyone, including the TV cameras, followed the football up and down......

The Liverpool players who reacted desperately squeezed in front of goal, hoping that when the ball fell, they would be pushed into the goal. Naturally, the Forest players are trying to keep each other out and keep them from getting close.

Wood looked up in the crowd and saw that the football had risen to its peak and was falling. Van der Sar was still inside the goal, struggling to get up.

It's dangerous to clear a header from this position because he's facing the goal. When he jumps, the opposing player will definitely interfere below, and when the time comes, what would have been a header is cleared, it is likely to turn into an own goal.

But if you don't solve the siege, it will definitely not work, once the football falls, there is chaos in front of the goal, and whoever touches it at that time may touch the football into the goal close at hand.

How does that end?

Wood looked up at the falling soccer ball as he leaned back. This posture......

George. Wood suddenly leaped high from the crowd and leaned back, not to clear the ball with a header, but to ...... Barb clearance!

The football was kicked with his right foot and flew straight out of the sideline!

"George. Wood! Barb clearance! It's beautiful! ”

The move drew a lot of applause for Wood, and the Nottingham Forest fans collectively chanted their captain's name to cheer him on the clearance.

But Donne, who was standing on the sidelines, didn't mean to be happy at all, and his brows tightened.

He looked sideways again, just as Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez walked out of the dugout, clearly sorry that the goal had not been scored, or ...... Still dissatisfied?

Benitez didn't wave his arms or shout from the sidelines. He just stood on the sidelines with his hands in his pockets, as if he wasn't interested in what was in front of him. But if he was really as calm as he appeared to be...... Why did he step out of the dugout?

You know, this is the first time he has left the dugout seat in this game and appeared on the sidelines.

Don tilted his head for a moment, then laughed. He turned and walked back to the dugout and said to assistant coach Krislak: "Go tell them to step up their attack and stop defending." ”

(To be continued)